X Men: Evolution Redux
by HMMaster
Summary: See the perils and struggles of our favorite heroes through an OC cast that replaces the originals. Stay tuned as Tempest, Dynamo, Sparkplug, Winter Rose, Mudslide, Echo, and Aurum survive the struggles of adolescence while becoming the X-Men that the world needs.
1. Strategy X: Both Sides of the Spectrum

**Basically, this fic is an OC fic where I have replaced the canon X-Men with a team of all OCs, and we'll be (loosely) following the plot of the show, with my own tweaks to episodes. **

**Shout-Outs: Thanks to Ember Ice for creating Ava, A. Rog for creating Alex, Pokemon Trainer Leo for creating Kris, and out4thecout for creating Astoria. You guys are awesome!**

**Disclaimer (for the whole fic): I don't own X-Men: Evolution or any of its characters. All of the Original Characters presented here belong to their respective owners. **

* * *

><p><strong>Strategy X:<strong>  
><strong>Both Sides of the Spectrum<strong>

"Get him!" yelled a voice angrily. The sound of footsteps crunching heavily on the dead forest floor could be heard for what seemed like miles.

The boy high-tailed it out of there as quickly as possible. He ran, keeping his head held high to indicate that even this torture wasn't going to faze him. The vivid orange hair behind him was testament to the fact that his social life was forever changed.

"Damn," he muttered to himself, stepping into the cover of the trees. The setting sun would soon provide him some cover, assuming that his hair didn't glow in the dark. And that he could put some distance between him and his so-called "friends."

There was so much that he wished he could take back. He wished that he hadn't gone to the pool that day, half-sure that the water was what had caused the…change. It could have been some kind of freak lightning storm, or maybe static electricity. But the other half of him knew the truth.

He was different.

And there was no denying it.

He hurried along into the patch of thick trees, praying that it would be enough, when he felt the impact and the whole world blurred for what seemed like hours. He rubbed the back of his head lazily, trying to stop everything from spinning.

"Hit him again!" yelled another voice, a laughing assailant. There was something so twisted about someone who could take pleasure in this.

It was then that he remembered his "fight-or-flight" response was screeching to flee. He clambered backward again, his vision cluttered with swirls and splotches of green.

"Look at the idiot, you guys! He's running in circles, chasing his tail like a dog!" exclaimed the brutish Mark, one of his favorite people in the whole world. Well, when you factor out the psychotic rage.

Mark raised the bat at the others' requests, smacking it against the boy's back with a loud THUD. The boy groaned in pain, trying to ignore the shooting pain, and stood once more. Only to fall victim to the cruel metal of the bat against his kneecap.

"Why?" he moaned out, gasping for air that wouldn't come. He felt something stirring, something he couldn't name, and he prayed that his lunch wasn't coming back.

"Because," he accented the mark with a smash to the arm, "you," another hit to the back, "are," a slam to the stomach, "a freak!"

Suddenly, something burst within him and exploded outward in a burst of orange light. It arced through the air as quick as it had come, leaving behind sparks like the embers of a fire. The bully screeched when it made contact, but Mark wasn't hurt. In fact, it had done nothing but cause a distraction.

"No more magic tricks, Kris. This isn't like the day at the pool," he retorted, raising the bat once more. "This time, there's no element of surprise." Mark brought the bat down, and the boy silently prayed for mercy.

And it came. In the form of a burly man with blue-black hair, dressed in a brown leather jacket and jeans. "That's enough, kid. Drop the bat before I make ya," the newcomer half-barked, half-growled out.

It only took a mere moment to process the rage this man possessed, and even with the bat, Mark didn't want to face him. He and his buddies, Kris's former friends, ran from the area as quickly as they had come.

"You okay, kid?" asked the man as he knelt before him.

Kris was about to reply, but the trauma caught up to him, and he blacked out.

The burly man sighed, hoisting the boy onto his shoulders. "Figures. Now, how do I get him on my bike?"

* * *

><p>"Touchdown!" yelled the group of cheerleaders, dressed in the school's colors of red and gold.<p>

They really had the crowd going. Clapping and stomping along with their cheers and the school band, synchronized to the beat. All except for one girl, who watched the cheerleaders with disgust. She scowled at the head cheerleader, Crystal, and wondered how she could get away with frying her.

"Are you enjoying yourself, Ava?" asked the blond boy next to her, sitting down from his umpteenth trip to the concession stand.

"Are you enjoying your sixth hot dog, Alex?" mocked Ava in her best imitation of Alex's voice.

"Hey, I gotta keep my energy up!" he explained, grinning as he lifted his pointer finger and made it glow with faint green energy. Ava glared at him, warning him to put it away before someone could see. Alex only shrugged, did what she said, and shoveled the rest of the hotdog into his mouth.

"Well, I'll be surprised if those eating habits of yours don't slowly break Xavier's checkbook," Ava taunted, diverting her attention just as the star player Duncan Matthews scored a touchdown, bringing the score to forty-nine to seventeen, Bayville.

"What can I say?" Alex asked, shrugging as the rest of the crowd cheered. "I'm his favorite."

Ava grinned and shouted for the quarterback herself, but just as she was going to sit down, she noticed the head cheerleader and two of her cronies walking away from the sidelines.

"That's odd," she said, pointing them out to Alex. "As hard as it is for me to say this, Crystal isn't one to leave the sidelines like that."

Alex frowned, watching them head to the bleachers. "Oh, it's not something bad, Ava. They're probably just going to go and socialize or something. Isn't that what girls do?"

She locked eyes with him, daring him to dig a deeper hole for himself. The boy backed off, knowing what kind of temper she could have. Especially when it came to comparing her to common white trash like Crystal.

When the three cheerleaders headed under the bleachers, she turned back to Alex and gestured their way. "See! I'm checking this out. Are you coming?"

Alex considered it for a moment, looked toward the concession stand, and then back to her. "Nah, I'm going to stay here and watch the game."

Ava rolled her eyes, knowing him too well. "It's a wonder you aren't as big as a house."

The boy patted his lean stomach, feigning sadness. "I'm kind of insulted. Can't I at least be something cooler than a house? Like, an X-Mansion, complete with Danger Room and Cerebro and…"

She walked off, not giving him the satisfaction of laughing. _He's lucky he's cute, _she thought as she headed towards the cheerleaders.

* * *

><p>"You really shouldn't smoke, you know?" said Crystal, pointing to the cigarette.<p>

The girl that she and her friends were confronting was dressed to match her blue-highlighted, jet black hair, arranged in disorganized pig-tails. Despite her heavy black make-up and her spider-web tattoo, she was wearing a stylish black skirt and a black and blue blouse that exposed part of her pale mid-drift. Her knee-height black boots were almost the exact shade of her hair.

"Yeah, I understand the cancer issues, but thanks for updating me on what I already know. Do you have any other needless information that I don't give a shit to hear? Otherwise, I'll be just peachy if you'll leave me alone," the girl countered, a happy smile on her face as she puffed rings of smoke.

"Well, Astoria's grown a backbone," Crystal said, astounded that she had stood up to her.

"Actually, I always have had a backbone. But you've never spoken to me once aside from the useless insults about the way I look. I'll be honest, sweetie. You're not actually all that pretty."

Crystal was pissed. "Well, there was someone complaining about the smoke coming up from under the bleachers, so I thought I would put a stop to it."

"Who do you think you are, the Queen of England?" Astoria countered, puffing on her cigarette and exhaling through her nose. "You're not at the top, honey. In high school, maybe. But since when does high school matter? Thirty years from now, not a single one of us will look at you as though you have made something of yourself. I'll see you when you're washing my car."

Astoria smiled the cheeriest smile she could muster. Crystal countered with a death glare.

"Every single kid at this school looks up to me!" she exclaimed.

"I don't," said a voice. Crystal, the two lowly cheerleaders, and Astoria turned around and saw a girl with brown and pink hair standing in the shadows. "And I don't think Astoria does either. Why don't you go apply some more hairspray or something?"

Crystal scoffed. "Do you think I care if the pink-haired skank looks up to me or not? And I don't' use hairspray!"

Ava walked up to her calmly, but her eyes radiated anger and resentment for her last statement. "First of all, my hair is not pink. It's amaranth. Secondly, I'm pretty sure that if her cigarette got any closer to your hair, you would spontaneously combust. No joke. And thirdly, weren't you being 'passed around' from guy to guy last year for a cheap screw?"

Crystal and her friends were angry, but that was certainly an understatement. "Fine. If you want to play it that way," she began, pointing to the girls on her right. "Stomp out that cigarette. I'll handle the other one."

"Girl, you don't know who you are playing with," Ava said, grinning as Crystal came closer.

The other two girls headed toward Astoria, who merely sucked on her cigarette nonchalantly. It only took a second for the cloud of smoke to hit the oncoming girls in the face. They coughed it off and then grabbed the Goth by the arm, trying to grab the cigarette.

"You know, this is really smart. Let's grab a burning stick from somebody's hand," Astoria murmured. "You two don't have much brains without Queen Bitch over there, huh?" She pulled the now-angrier girls backwards, carefully stepping over the support beams. But the other two girls weren't so lucky. Both tripped over-excitedly, landing on the ground in a tangled heap of limbs.

Crystal, meanwhile, circled Ava carefully, trying to stop the coming altercation from happening. She had heard rumors about Ava's temper ever since she moved here, and she didn't really want to face that if she could help it.

"You know, I'm going to tarnish my reputation if I get involved in this," the head cheerleader commented.

"How, exactly, could your reputation get any worse?" Ava taunted.

The girl practically growled, running for her opponent's amaranth locks. She gave them a mighty tug, and Ava screeched.

"Fighting like a girl, huh?" yelled Ava, readying her fist and trying very hard not to explode into an electric fury. "That's okay. But just know, I can fight like a man." Ava slammed her shoulder against the cheerleader, knocking her to the ground. She was about to charge when she considered what Xavier would do. Probably try to peacefully solve the solution.

But, what the hell. She wasn't Xavier.

Ava hurled herself on Crystal and punched her once in the face, breaking her nose. Crystal looked up at her in terror, but Ava backed off after getting her good hit in. Crystal didn't follow, horrified that her nose would be irreparable.

But Ava hadn't been paying attention to the other half of the fight. Astoria's cigarette fell as Astoria was tackled, but as she hit the ground, a blue baseball-sized fireball shot from Astoria's hand and collided with the propane tank near the stadium gate.

Naturally, shrapnel and flames scattered throughout the stadium, and Ava ducked for cover. She was lucky that she was under the bleachers, but her thoughts suddenly jumped to Alex. Was he okay?

Astoria, singed in various places, got up from the unconscious cheerleaders' grasp. She looked toward Ava, who was hunkered down behind a bleacher support, and then ran from the area, knowing she was to blame.

Xavier was going to be so pissed.

* * *

><p><strong>How was it? Yes, no? Are any of the characters too Sue-ishStu-ish? Please, let me know what you think! I prefer a well-structured review with lots of constructive criticism than a review that says that you liked/hated my story, but the latter is fine too. And be honest, because seriously, I want to know what you think. Flames are welcome, if you just absolutely hated it.**

**I was going to include more, as I have the first two episodes written down on paper, but I thought this would be a good place to stop it. I'm not too pleased with the whole "fight-scene" if you can call it that. But it does get better. I promise, this will be very good, if I can balance the characters well and make them unique from the show.**

**And once again, REVIEW!**


	2. Strategy X: A Test Gone Awry

**Okay, so the last chapter was kind of ugh, but this one is much better, I think. Tell me what you think, and please, let me know if any characters change the rules to be Sue/Stu. I will try to fix them as time passes.**

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><p><em><strong>Strategy X:<strong>_  
><em><strong>A Test Gone Awry<strong>_

The boy drifted to consciousness as soon as the motorcycle grinded to a stop. His first instinct upon seeing the short-but-huge man sitting in front of him was to run. And then he remembered why the man was there.

"Oh, you're awake," the man mumbled. "My name's Logan, kid. What's yours?"

"Kai Tanaka," the Japanese-American stated groggily, feeling the pain and exhaustion all over him. "But my American name is Kris."

"So, Kris or Kai?"Logan asked.

"It doesn't really matter," the boy stated, rubbing his belly. "I changed my name to Kris just to get on my dad's nerves, and started answering only to that. So Kris is fine." Logan nodded lazily, his eyes wandering. "Hey, where are we? And why are you doing this for me?"

"Take a look around," Logan grumbled. "We're at your place. And I'm offering you a place to live. See, I know you are different. I'm different myself. We're mutants, born with an advanced X-gene that gives us powers." As if to demonstrate, he raised his hands and three metallic claws shot out from the junctions between his knuckles; Kris's eyes widened in half-terror, half-amazement. "I work for a guy named Xavier, a telepath who has set up this school for kids like you. He wants to help you control your powers. Would you be interested?"

Kris considered it a moment, so many questions drifting through his head. "I don't know…"

"I know how hard it is to be different," Logan started. "You'll never feel more alone. But at the Xavier Institute, you'll be around people who are just as different as you are. You don't have to be alone, kid. I don't know what happened to cause those kids to attack you, and I won't tell you that that kind of stuff won't happen again. But if anybody can help you through it, Xavier can."

Kris was silent for a long moment as he detached himself from the sling that Logan had set up so that he wouldn't fall off. "How long have you been practicing that sales pitch?"

Logan laughed, something that Kris wouldn't have expected from him. "A while, actually. I'm not sure why Xavier sends me on these recruiting jobs. I'm not exactly the kind of guy people want to be around."

Kris pulled himself off the bike, aching all over with bruises and scrapes. "For what it's worth, your speech wasn't that bad. I like the idea, but we'll have to talk to my parents first."

Logan sighed. "Well, here comes the really hard part."

* * *

><p>"What happened?" Alex asked as soon he walked through the door, still dressed in his motorcycle gear. "And I know it wasn't a propane leak, Ava. Did you cause it?"<p>

Ava silently thanked whatever deity was watching that Alex was safe. He must have missed her as she left with Xavier. "No, I didn't cause it. Don't you think I have a little more self-control than that?" As if the world was set against her, amaranth lightning suddenly sparked from her body and shattered a nearby lamp. She was lucky it was unplugged, or the whole place might have caught on fire.

"Well, if you want me to answer honestly…" Alex started, but she cut him off when the thunder boomed outside, as if the deadly glare that she gave him wasn't enough.

"You gotta give me some credit, here, Dynamo. I've been holding that one in for a while," Ava said, laughing. "It was Astoria Urving, the Goth girl who sits in the back of our English class. She's a mutant with fire powers, I think. The cheerleaders were antagonizing her about smoking, and then I stepped in to defend her. I think I made things worse. A fight broke out, and Astoria's powers went off without her control and it blew up the propane tank," explained Ava silently. "And now, Xavier has mind-wiped the cheerleaders, planted the story about the propane leak, and given me double Danger Room sessions for two weeks, which may as well be the rest of my life because Logan is going to kill me."

Alex rolled his eyes. "Oh, it can't be that bad. And it really sounds like Crystal went too far. Where is Logan anyways? I want to show him this new decal I bought for my bike on my way home."

"He left this morning on a recruiting mission. A boy named Kris who lives in Ohio, I think," explained Ava."Xavier debriefed us this morning about it. Don't you remember?"

"Must have slipped my mind," Alex muttered. "Between all that eating and not sleeping, my mind gets a little crowded."

Ava felt like slapping herself. Xavier had explained that the brain works to organize our memories of the day each night while we are asleep, and Alex can't sleep. So his brain gets overworked a lot. "Sorry about that. It was insensitive of me. And I'm sorry about anything else that I might have said that I shouldn't."

The boy just shrugged. "It's all right. And thanks."

"You're welcome," she explained, looking out the window at the setting sun. "I am beat, so I think I'm going to head to bed. I'll get a midnight snack later."

Alex watched as Ava went to bed, and then headed to the kitchen to "recharge." He was feeling like steak and gravy.

* * *

><p>"Ava, quit hogging the bathroom! I've gotta brush my teeth!" Alex exclaimed, banging on the door.<p>

Ava brought the curling iron to her hair once more, thankful that Logan hadn't come home in time for her double Danger Room session. "You mean after all that time you have at night, you decide to brush your teeth after other people get up? And besides, there's like four other bathrooms in this place."

"Well, I like to keep a regular routine. The only other bathroom on our wing is being used by Storm this morning. Now, can you please hurry?" Alex pleaded.

Ava opened the door, watching as he stumbled in after her. "Geez, you're worse than a girl."

Alex groaned and Ava laughed, before heading downstairs. Ava went to get a bite to eat, right as the professor showed up at the door. Alex was just coming in from the other side, ready to plow through whatever plate of food he could muster.

"Before you eat, I'd like you to meet our newest edition to the mansion. Come on, Kris," Xavier said, smiling. A boy with long orange hair and bright green eyes, wearing a grey hoodie and blue jeans, came into view. "Kris, this is Avalon Bronte and Alex Rogers."

Alex went up and shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"Me too," said Avalon. "But please, call me Ava."

"Kris here is what I call a kinetic absorber, redirector, and supercharger," explained Xavier. "Energy-based weapons or powers are absorbed into his body, and he can re-fire them at will and at twice the strength," explained Xavier. "Ava can control the stormy side of weather, hence her codename of Tempest. And Alex is a metabolic energy converter, Dynamo being a good nickname for him."

"Well, that's cool. Give me a demonstration," Kris said.

Ava looked to the window. "Professor, can we take it outside? I wouldn't want to hurt anything."

"Of course," he replied, and then gestured for us to follow him out the front steps. Ava, Alex, and Kris moved away from the mansion ten yards.

"And you're sure that it won't hurt him?" Alex asked, pointing.

The professor caught on quickly, but Kris wasn't so lucky. "No, it shouldn't."

"What shouldn't?" he asked, but was silenced as a green beam of energy fired from Alex's fist collided against his body, the force pushing him back a few feet. Without warning, his body began to glow a slight orange hue, and Kris held out his hand. An orange beam of power was loosed from his hand, splintering a tree nearby.

Kris was shocked as his glow died down, looking over at the broken tree as though it was not possible that he had just done that. "Whoa…" was all he could say.

Ava looked as though she was about to strike him herself, but instead chose to very quickly summon storm clouds over the entire school. Rain should have come, but she always had so much trouble making the liquid fall from the sky. Amaranth lightning struck in several places, and as soon as she managed to clear the sky afterwards, she was woozy and felt like a nap.

"Maybe I should stay home today," she muttered, sick to her stomach with exhaustion. "I don't feel so well."

Kris was astounded by her display. "I don't care who you are, or where you come from; anyone would see that as amazing. All of it. You both are pretty incredible."

"Thanks," Ava and Alex said simultaneously. "But you aren't so bad yourself," added Alex. "You can turn our powers against us. That's a pretty cool tool to have."

Kris held up his hand and caused orange sparks of energy to gather around it. "The most I can do on my own is make lights."

"That's why we're a team though," Ava said droopily. "We'll be there to back you up."

Kris thanked us right as Alex's watch beeped. "Oh crap, we're going to be late! Sorry Ava, but I think you're going to have to go tired," he exclaimed, and Ava just shrugged, and both he and Ava ran toward the garage. "See you later, Kris!"

"Yeah! Later!" he called back, before heading inside to finish the tour.

* * *

><p>Astoria was sitting there, wanting to pull out a cigarette but knowing that it would be extremely stupid to do right in front of the principal's office.<p>

She wondered why she was here anyway. Darkholme had never wanted anything to do with her before now, so what was different? Her mind drifted to last night, but she pushed it past her and wanted to forget about it.

"Miss Urving," said the intimidating voice of Principal Darkholme as she opened the door to her office.

Astoria cheerfully headed inside, taking a seat in the chair across from her desk. The woman sighed and sat on the front edge of her desk.

"Now, Astoria. Shall we talk about last night?"

"What about it?" the girl countered, not skipping a beat.

"I know that you caused the explosion. And I know that the girl who tried to defend you, Avalon Bronte, has special powers. And there are others here like her. We need to know more. Much more." Throughout the conversation, the woman kept getting closer and closer to Astoria's face, trying to intimidate her.

She was about to argue when the hand placed on her shoulder changed before her very eyes. She looked back in horror when a black monster growled down at her and opened its jaws.

"You'll do as you're told, my little Spice! Understand?"

All she could do was whimper yes, and then scamper from the office in fear.

* * *

><p>Xavier opened the door, showing Kris the inside of his room.<p>

"Wow," the Japanese-American said, eyeing all the furniture, clothes, and desk supplies with wonder. "This is all mine?"

"Of course, Kris," explained the professor, chuckling. "Feel free to make it your own space. And make sure you check the closet."

On cue, Kris opened the closet door, and hanging on the inside of the door was a black and orange leather and spandex outfit. He held it up, admiring the material. It was mainly black, but had a jagged orange stripe across the torso that wrapped horizontally around. At the foot of the outfit in a special rack were the orange matching gloves and boots, as well as the orange belt with the red and black X in the very center.

"What is it for?"

"That's your X-Men uniform, should you choose to become a member of our team. I formed the X-Men as a sort of peace-keeping team to defend both humans and mutants from persecution on either side," explained the professor. "I'd like you to become our newest member."

"So, what? Like superheroes or something?" he asked, thinking of those heroes and villains from the news, like Spider-Man, the Green Goblin, and the Fantastic Four.

"Something like that, I suppose," Xavier said, chuckling. "So are you interested?"

He nodded forcefully. "Of course. I don't see why not, and it will be kind of exciting."

Professor X smiled. "I thought you might say that. Now, I'll leave you to get settled in. You start school tomorrow morning, and then the Danger Room soon after."

Before he could ask what the Danger Room was, the telepath was gone, leaving him in his brand-new room to contemplate things.

* * *

><p>"You're seriously going to scarf that down?" Ava asked Alex, as he ate a third piece of cafeteria pizza. "I mean, I know you have to keep your energy up, but seriously, this pizza is gross."<p>

He shrugged. "It's food nonetheless. They couldn't feed it to us if it wasn't nutritious, even if the taste isn't all that is desired." He was about to comment about the chemistry homework when Astoria suddenly sat down next to Ava.

"Hi," she greeted, holding up a plate of pie. "Would you like some?"

Alex was staring wide-eyed at it, and Ava half-expected him to lean down and sniff it for all it's worth. "We're fine, thanks," Ava said, slapping his hand away. "So did you need to talk about something?"

"Um, it's about last night," she stated, looking at Alex nervously.

"Oh, I told him all about it," Ava assured her. "He can stay. So is this about the mutant thing?"

Astoria nodded. "Yeah. We're similar. And I don't have a lot of practice with control. Do you think you could help me somehow?"

Ava and Alex shared a glance, and Alex curtly nodded. She quickly wrote down the address of the Institute and then handed the piece of paper to Astoria. "Come by tonight. Xavier can show you around, and maybe you could come and live with us."

"Thanks!" the Goth said without another word, before turning around and disappearing from sight.

"You'd better call him and make sure that it is okay," Alex suggested. Ava pulled out her phone, grateful that the teachers didn't care during lunch time.

"Hello, Ava," the professor said as soon as he answered the phone. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I guess. I just wanted to let you know that Alex and I invited the girl who caused the explosion, Astoria, to visit the Institute tonight. Is that all right?"

"Of course," he said automatically. "We can't turn our backs on anyone. But I have an idea. I want you and Alex to test Astoria and Kris. Give them a sort of audition, per se. What do you think?"

Ava nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. All right. See ya after school."

"Goodbye," said the professor, hanging up the phone.

"Well, this should be fun," groaned Ava.

* * *

><p>"Are you ready?" asked Storm, pointing towards the mansion gate. The windswept balcony held both resident weather witches, one mentor and one student. Each was wearing their uniform, Storm's a dark navy leather complete with a wing-like cape, and Tempest's a storm gray stylish outfit showing lots of skin.<p>

"As ready as I'm going to be," Ava replied, secretly glad that Ororo was watching her back in case something went wrong.

"Remember that this is just a test. Keep your mind clear, focus on your control, and don't let it overtake you. I'll be here if things get too hairy."

"All right, Smoggy. I got it," Ava replied, sticking her tongue out to Storm, who merely smiled.

* * *

><p>Astoria, dressed in black high-heel boots, dark stockings, a black sleeveless turtleneck that stopped at her belly button, and a dark black mini skirt; approached the dark lawn of the Institute just after sunset. The sky was clear, the moon just beginning to rise. It was eerily silent, and aside from the few lights on in the Institute, the place looked extremely vacant.<p>

"That's odd," she said, touching the gate. Immediately, it swung open seemingly of its own accord. "Even odder."

She headed toward the mansion, and she was vaguely aware of the sudden loss of light. She looked up and storm clouds had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, blanketing the sky with their ferocity. Pink- no, amaranth lightning cackled across the sky from cloud to cloud. The winds began to pick up dramatically, pushing her around as they got stronger and stronger.

"What in the heck kind of freak storm is this?" Astoria asked, struggling against the wind. She knew she needed to hurry up and get inside, but the wind was conveniently blowing towards her from the direction of the mansion, restricting her flow.

Suddenly, an oak tree was struck by lightning, setting it ablaze and sending chunks flying toward her, only bolstered by the wind. She flicked her fingers, setting a blue spark, and then throwing fireball after fireball of blue flames at the oncoming debris, usually incinerating it in seconds.

But the victory was short lived. Amaranth lightning suddenly cracked against the ground right behind her. As soon as she jumped out of the way, a gust of wind caught her and carried her away.

* * *

><p>"So this is the Danger Room?" asked Kris. "I thought I wasn't supposed to be starting this until tomorrow night?"<p>

Alex shrugged. "I guess it was a change of plans. And the team sessions are supposed to start tomorrow night anyway, since Logan's been gone while getting you. And then he up and went again this afternoon."

"Why?" Kris asked. "Does he leave like that often?"

"Sort of," Alex explained. "He knows he has ties here, but he leaves usually because he thinks he can get some answers about his past. He lost his memory a long time ago, and he doesn't remember anything. The professor has been helping him remember, and maybe they found a clue. Or he could be on vacation. Whatever works for him."

Kris stared around the room, wondering what was so dangerous about the round room to have gotten its name. "So I don't really see why it's called the Danger Room."

Alex smiled. "You will. Trust me. Run Beginner Program 002: Dynamo. Level One."

Immediately, the room complied to his command. Out of the wall came several launchers, tentacles, and other machines, and Alex snickered to me. "They won't start until I tell it to. Are you ready?"

Kris gulped, and then nodded. And the races were off. Flying metallic saucers, energy blasts, and nets began flying around the room, hurtling themselves at the two mutants. Alex charged his hands and destroyed two oncoming discs, one with each hand. Three more took their place, and he had to duck to avoid them.

Kris ran through the room, avoiding the energy guns and saucers as best he could. He was about to run back towards Alex, but a tentacle suddenly snagged his leg, lifting him high into the sky, upside down.

"Brace yourself!" Alex yelled, charging a green blast and firing it at Kris's back. As soon as the blast hit, the energy was sucking into his body like a sponge through water. "Now, fire at the tentacle's base!"

Kris aimed as best he could, and then released the energy. An orange blast blew a chunk from the bottom of the tentacle, and he fell to the ground in a heap.

Alex blasted a net that threatened to capture Kris and then ran over to him to help him up. Kris stood uneasily, feeling the pain from the fall as well as from the bullies rushing back to him.

"You okay?" Alex asked.

"Yeah," he said, spontaneously shooting orange sparks all around him. When Alex rested his hand on the younger boy's shoulder, immediately, orange energy rushed into Dynamo's body. Alex went wide-eyed, an orange aura spreading around him.

"What's going on?" the glowing mutant asked, but Kris really had no idea. Flying discs suddenly sped through the air, aimed right at the two mutants. Dynamo raised his hands, just as he would any other time, and charged them for a strike. He could feel the power suddenly flowing within him, and as soon as he loosed it, he wished he hadn't.

A huge, larger than ever before wave of green and orange light released itself from Alex's hands, incinerating the discs and blasting him backwards against the wall. For a moment, Alex was proud of himself, but that didn't last long. Because the next thing that the blast hit was the metallic wall. They barely had time to shield their eyes before the supercharged energy blast exploded against the surface, shaking the whole room and taking a chunk out of the wall.

When the smoke and light had settled, and when they could hear again, Alex gaped in awe at the damage. There was a huge hole that had tore through the rock outside the room, and the salty-sea breeze spread throughout the room. The somewhat circular hole it had made was still smoking, and the ocean could be seen on the other side.

"Wow," Alex said, feeling the energy drop that comes from using his powers too much. He felt like eating a dozen buffets after that one.

"Did I-Did I cause that?" asked Kris, staring at the orange sparks jumping around his hands. He closed his fists, and they stopped for now.

"How's about we never do that again, Sparkplug?" asked Alex, laughing. "Sure, Logan and Xavier and Storm and Ava are going to kill us, but hey, no Danger Room for a while?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Kris murmured. "But Sparkplug?"

"I kind of like it. It doesn't sound intimidating, but those sparks of yours are like a jump-starter. Not only do you absorb energy and fire it back stronger, you also can supercharge the source of energy and fry the cliff-side," Alex said, laughing. "I really think it suits you."

Kris smiled. "If you say so."

* * *

><p>Just as Tempest was about to blow Astoria back another few feet, struggling against her control over the wind, there was a very loud sound, accompanying a rumble that shook the entire bluff. She looked at Storm in alarm, and the two of them rushed back inside.<p>

"What do you think it was?" asked Ava.

"It had to have come from the sub-levels," answered Ororo. "Oh, no. The Danger Room!"

The two of them hurried for the hidden elevator, only to meet Xavier on the way. They forgot about Astoria, who was recovering from the storm outside, now calm. She headed inside and started to explore.

"What's going on, Charles?" asked Storm. "I don't understand."

"Apparently, Kris supercharged Alex, which created a mega-blast that carved a hole through the cliff and the Danger Room wall," Xavier explained. "If I'm reading their thoughts correctly, anyway."

The elevator ride was a short one, and the two of them found Alex and Kris on their way up. Both were dressed in tattered uniforms, and both looked as though they had just robbed a bank.

"We're sorry," added Alex after explaining everything. "It was an accident, honest. Kris didn't even know he could do it, and I sure didn't."

"I know," explained Xavier, earning a sigh of relief from both Kris and Alex. "It's going to be all right. I know you meant no harm, and you are not in any trouble. We will get the Danger Room prepared as quickly as possible. At least Astoria's test went well."

"Test?" asked a voice from behind her. "This was a freaky test? You mean that that storm outside was meant to test me?"

Xavier frowned. "No, it's not like that."

"Yes, it is. You nearly struck me with lightning, you freaks! I'm out of here!" Astoria left without another word, heading back towards the elevator.

"Do you want me to go after her, Professor?" asked Ava, but he shook his head.

"No, let her go. We've pestered her enough for one night," he explained, and then sighed as the elevator came back down. "Well, that went extremely well. I don't think it could have been any better."

Alex smiled. "Hey, I didn't realize that the Professor had a sarcastic flavor!"

All of them laughed at that.

"You mean that you were inside and you ran away!" yelled Principal Darkholme, growling right in Astoria's face. "You failed! Get out!"

Astoria was about to mutter something when the door slammed open, and the intimidating woman practically threw her out.

As she turned around, slammed the door, and morphed back into her true form, she watched in fear as the supplies started to seemingly move by themselves. She watched as her paper clips seemingly flew of their own accord, and noticed the familiar material between all the materials: metal.

"You shouldn't be so hard on her, Mystique. She does have potential," said the deep voice. "We don't want to thin our ranks, now do we?"

"No, sir," she said, gasping in fear and looking around the room around her for some sign. "I'll be more careful next time."

"Mind that you are," the voice continued. "And remember: this is only the beginning."

* * *

><p><strong>How'd you like this chapter? Yes, no? I was actually happy with it, happier than with the first part. What do you think?<strong>


	3. The X-Impulse: An Echo in the Distance

**Tell me what you think about this one!**

**Shout-Outs: To BitchAmI for creating Rivera and to The Evil Hillbilly for creating Archie! Thanks so much you guys!**

* * *

><p><em><strong>The X-Impulse:<strong>_  
><em><strong>An Echo In the Distance<strong>_

The crowd thundered in her ears, waiting on the fight to begin. She bowed to her opponent respectfully, as she had always done. Despite this routine, she couldn't help but feel apprehensive about this particular match; she was in the championship bout, and she wasn't exactly sure she could win. In fact, the girl she was facing was much more skilled than her and had never lost a bout. And the girl knew that her own track record was not perfect.

"Fight!" yelled the announcer, and the tension was nearly palpable as the two combatants swirled around the field, neither one willing to make the first strike.

Immediately, the opponent rushed forward and did a spinning roundhouse kick, impressively cutting through the air like a knife through butter. She slid across the mat, nearly tripping over herself.

Taking an offensive, she darted around the field, calling on the speed her teacher had ensured she would know before this match. She quickly and decisively chipped away the opponent's defenses, each jab becoming harder and harder to block as she seemed to move with a natural rhythm that not many saw in a fighter this young. Once she had successfully broken the other girl's guard, she did a flying side kick right into the girl's chest.

There was a moment where time seemed to stand still, where the opponent slowly fell to the ground in pain and out of the circle.

"And the girls' division winner," the announcer began, "of the two thousand and eleven Youth Karate Tournament is…RIVERA SMITH!" The crowd roared, and she couldn't hold in her excitement.

She smiled in triumph, and shook her opponent's hand, before bowing to her once again. She smiled and waved for the pictures, before taking the trophy that the announcer gave her.

But while in the spotlight, a pain shot through Rivera's head, and she nearly blacked out, right there on the stage. She fought through her now splitting headache, hearing the words and seeing the lights, but not comprehending any of the information.

"Rivera, are you okay?" asked a voice. She looked up and her father's assistant, Dani, smiled concernedly.

The headache seemed to clear for the moment, going away as quickly as it had come. "Yes, I'm fine. But hey, I won!"

Dani smiled. "Of course you did, early-birthday-girl. What are you plans for the big day tomorrow?"

"A party at the house. You'll be there, right?" she asked, handling the newly-won trophy.

Dani frowned, checking her watch. "I will try. There's a meeting in Nashville, and the plane leaves in an hour or so. If I hurry, and the meeting doesn't go on too long, I can try to cut things short and be there late tomorrow night. Does that work?"

Rivera nodded, but knew full-well that her father's meetings often lasted too long, and Dani was usually kept very busy. Neither her father nor her mother had a lot of time at home, and Dani was the closest thing that she had had to a parent. Rivera knew it was true.

* * *

><p>"Now's the time to act!"<p>

"We have to do it when the shifts change, or else we'll lose our chance!"

The boy looked on his two friends, dressed to the T to what you would expect a bully to look like: baggy jeans, greasy hair, a tattoo or three. He didn't exactly contrast much to the two who were giving him advice, but he didn't have any tattoos, at least.

"We'll wait," the boy answered, an authority in his voice that the other two couldn't deny. "It's not like it has to be today. The shifts will still change at the same time, and all will be well. Just wait, and trust me."

Rivera's party was going well. At least, until the headaches returned. Stronger than before, the headaches made her skull throb, and she had to interrupt the game of truth or dare she and her friends were playing to go to the bathroom.

"Rivera, come on out!" yelled a girl, her best friend Haley. "I've got to get to the bathroom sometime today!"

"I know," she exclaimed, rubbing her forehead as if that would ward off the pain. "I'm coming now."

As the bathroom door opened and she scuttled out, Haley ran in, mumbling her thanks. Rivera groaned as she returned to the living room, where the game was still going strong.

"Hey, Rivera," said Megan, another good friend from her karate classes. "Are you doing all right?"

She merely mumbled in response and the game continued. When it came to her turn, the aching had dulled to a slight throb every few seconds.

"Okay, truth or dare?" asked Haley, having returned to the bathroom moments ago.

"Dare," Rivera agreed, wanting to do anything to get her mind off the pain in her skull.

"I dare you to dance battle Megan," Haley said, knowing that this would be interesting, "and the loser has to eat ketchup, hot sauce, and ranch dressing, and vinegar mixed together." The other girls "oohed" and "aahed."

Rivera sighed, knowing that Megan was practically the country's best at this game. How was she going to stand a chance? Megan stood, and Rivera followed, the two walking away from the rest of the girls in their circle in order to protect them from flailing limbs.

"You ready?" asked Megan, holding out her pink iPod on a good, fast-beat party song.

Rivera gulped, ready to get this loss over with. She wondered how all of those things would taste together…

The song began, and Megan made all of these movements that were very hard to follow. An arm to the right, a leg to the left, head swivel, blur, blur, hip turn, blur, blur, blur. When she stopped moving, the others turned to her in expectance of something better.

Suddenly, her head throbbed, and flashes of the dance Megan had just performed whizzed through her head. And her brain seemed to make her body move on its own accord, and before she knew it, she had somehow matched every single move that Megan had made. Right down to the angles and degrees, height notwithstanding.

Some of them had noticed and were gaping at her. Others were still confused, and waiting for something better. Haley peered at me, her eyes full of wonder.

"How'd you just do that?"

"I don't know," Rivera said, except that it didn't sound like her. It sounded like Haley's voice. Freaking out now, she cleared her throat and tried again. This time, she sounded like Dani.

"How? How'd you make your voice do that?" Megan asked, somewhat accusingly, probably because her thunder was stolen.

Rivera just shook her head, trying to figure out what just happened, not noticing that the headache was intensifying. "I don't know!" she exclaimed, this time in her voice. Immediately, she ran backwards, towards the bathroom. She closed the door behind her, and clambered over to the toilet to puke. Instead, she fell to the ground as her headache gave one final burst of pain, hitting her head on the side of the tub.

It felt like mere moments when she heard someone nudging her. She opened her eyes, and Dani was standing over her in the bathroom floor, horrified. "Rivera! Are you all right?"

The girl rubbed her eyes, and then looked around the room. Her eyes widened in shock, and the identical face in front of her mimicked her expression.

She was staring now, at two copies of herself.

Naturally, she fainted again, her head hitting the tile hard.

* * *

><p><em>BEEP! BEEP!<em>

Xavier rolled up to a beeping Cerebro console, the panels along the wall shifting open to reveal the monitor and machine.

"Alert! Discovery. Mutant signature. The second detection in this vicinity." The screen flickered to a map of the city, showing two red blips not too far from each other. "Extrapolation complete. Identity confirmed." The image shifted to a profile of a young girl with straight black hair, dark green eyes, and a petite smile. "Name: Rivera Smith. Residence: Los Angeles. Age: 16."

Xavier, now determined, pressed a button on the panel. "Ava, prep the Blackbird. There's a new mutant in LA."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, at the high school, Kris was running across campus, certain that he would be late. He was certain that whoever designed this place chose to spread things out just to make teenagers angry. And, if only he had super speed or something, he wouldn't have to worry about a schedule.<p>

_OOF!_

He skid to the ground, and when he looked up, a very angry Principal Darkholme was staring down at him, dusting her suit off. He hadn't been here but a couple weeks, but he already knew not to mess with her. She was more fierce than a jungle cat.

"You have eyes, don't you?" yelled the woman, pointing to the building. "Stop running, watch where you are going, and if you are tardy one more time, Mr. Tanaka, I will sign you up for my afterschool group. Are we clear?"

He nodded, squirming as the principal proved why people did not mess with her. "Yes, Miss Darkholme."

She looked satisfied with herself, and scampered off to stop a couple making out on the bench across the too large courtyard.

He hurried inside, hoping to escape her wrath. And nearly ran right into Alex.

"Are you all right? You look freaked," he said concernedly.

"I'm fine, I guess. The principal nearly chewed my face off, but other than that, I'm just peachy," Kris explained. "So where's Ava? I thought she had left for school before us."

"Nah, she went with Xavier on a recruiting mission," explained Alex. "Which sucks, because that's less people between Logan and us for the first Danger Room session since it was repaired."

Both boys shuddered at that. They were reminded of Logan's furious question: "YOU BROKE THE DANGER ROOM?" followed by a growl and a near slicing and dicing. They had spent the last few days training on the outside course, which was a pleasant change thanks to the cool climate, and the idea of going back to the Danger Room was truly terrifying…

"Well, here's my class. Later," Kris said, waving as Alex walked around the corner to the next hall.

"See ya," Alex called out, and Kris sighed as he entered the classroom and tried very hard to stomach the following history lecture.

* * *

><p>"But why just me, Professor? I mean, shouldn't the others come too?" asked Ava, thoroughly confused as she looked out the window onto the clouds around them. For the first thirty minutes of the flight, she made a game out of trying to charge the clouds with lightning as they flew by. Xavier put a quick stop to that when one of the bolts nearly fried the controls.<p>

"Because you are the one who can connect with this girl, Ava," explained Xavier matter-o-factly.

"I don't know if I'm the best one for the job though," Ava answered, now concerned. "What if she's like the other girls, Professor? What if she finds me… intimidating? If she does, there's no way she will listen to me."

The professor eyed her distress, only minimally probing her mind. He usually exercised self-control, but he could tell that she was truly worried and frightened. "You worry too much, Avalon. You are the leader of the X-Men, a role model. Sure, sometimes, you can be brash. But the others respect you, as do I. Use that knowledge and think confidently. Trust me, you will do absolutely fine."

She took his words to heart, smiling. "Thank you, Professor. I will keep it all in mind."

He nodded, looking back at the controls. "You're very welcome. You can ask me for advice at any time, all right?"

She grinned. "I know, Professor." But then another thought came into her head. "Wait, didn't Cerebro say that there were two new mutants in the area?"

He nodded. "Yes, another one. He actually goes to the same school as Rivera. You let me worry about him. You just concentrate on Rivera and her parents."

"All right," she answered, looking back at the horizon. "And to think that I skipped a riveting day of school for this."

The professor merely chuckled.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope that this too-short chapter didn't come off as boring… I really wanted to update today, since I had a lot done yesterday and finished it this morning. Anyways, this is the first part of" The X-Impulse," and the next part has more action in it, so more excitement. <strong>

**Anyways, tell me what you think in one of those wonderful things called reviews! And is it easy to understand who all of the OCs are? Is anything about them confusing at all? You really must let me know, as I will try harder to clarify if it does. The way that I'm writing, building on the character list as I write, makes things easier to follow in my honest opinion. What do you think?**


	4. The X-Impulse: An Echo in Need

_**The X-Impulse:**_  
><em><strong>An Echo in Need<strong>_

"I don't even know what to say," Dani had said the night before after Rivera had recovered from fainting. She had nearly fainted again when she realized everything had not been a dream, and that she was indeed an identical triplet now.

She sighed, lying in bed. The other two triplets were sitting in various states, asleep. Ever since she had "split," as that was the only word she could think of to describe it, her two triplets had not said anything on their own. The only time they spoke was echoing what Rivera had said beforehand. It was strange, and she couldn't figure out what was happening to her.

Was she insane? Had she gone completely bananas? Probably. The whole ordeal was very difficult, and she had no idea what to think.

A knock at the door broke her reverie. "May I come in?" Dani.

"Sure," she said half-heartedly. She dried her face, hoping that the tears hadn't left stains. She was not one to let people know she had been crying. Rivera looked over, and both of her triplets were now awake, looking at her inquisitively, tears also on their cheeks.

Dani slowly entered the room, gently shutting the door behind her. The frown on her face, although she tried to hide it afterward, was evident when she saw that the triplets were still there. Probably because it was proof that they had actually existed.

"Hi, sweetie," she began, walking over to Rivera's bedside. "Can I make you anything for breakfast?" The early morning light made her reddish-blond hair shine.

Rivera shook her head, frowning. "I don't really feel like eating."

Dani nodded gently, before clearing her throat. "I want you to know that things shouldn't be any different around here. Me, your mom, and your dad are going to treat you the same. And the other two…triplets? Is that the word?"

The two triplets shared a glance, and then nodded slowly.

"Have they talked at all?" Dani asked. "Are they even real? Are we all just nuts?"

The two triplets rose from their seats and touched Dani on either shoulder. "Yes, they're real," Rivera said, the other two saying it at the exact moment she did. "They only talk when I do, and even then, they don't always comment." For instance, the two were silent at that moment.

"This is just plain weird," Dani said, and then covered her mouth before she could say anything else. "Oh, no! Honey, you're not weird. This whole thing is just strange. It's like you split into three somehow, and that just doesn't happen. I half-expect this to be a B-movie or some really bad fanfiction."

Rivera laughed at that, and surprised herself that she even could. "And that's not all. I was dancing, doing the exact moves of my friend Megan like some kind of programmed robot. And then, when my friends asked me about it, I started talking in other people's voices." She cleared her throat, trying to get it to mimic on command. "Like yours." Dani's eyes widened when all three triplets spoke in her voice.

"I wish I knew how to explain this to you," Dani said, and Rivera gave her an inquisitive glance. It almost seemed like Dani knew something. "But I don't. Why don't you stay home from school, and I will take care of you today? We can talk about it more when your mother and father get home."

Rivera nodded in assent, and Dani walked out of the room, muttering something about enrollment papers, probably for the two triplets at the school. Once left alone, the three triplets shared a glance.

_You should stay home from school. Get your bed rest,_ said a voice.

_No, you shouldn't. You're not going to get any younger sitting there, and do you want make-up work?_ Asked another. _Go to school._

Rivera's eyes widened as she realized that her identical selves were talking to her.

Through her mind.

* * *

><p>The motorcycle, carrying their favorite instructor of all time, careened by the two students, returning home after lunch. It had been a short day at school, thankfully, except that it wouldn't matter because the two boys were nearly ran right over by Logan's motorcycle.<p>

"Geez, you were right," Kris said, gesturing toward the fleeing Logan. "He does like to leave in a hurry."

"Something's wrong," Alex said, feeling apprehensive and cautious. "That was too odd, even for him. And he was in his uniform too. Come on, let's follow him!"

Before Kris had time to argue, because he wasn't liking the idea at all, he was reluctantly dragged along by a now excited Alex. Alex ran toward the garage, pulling Kris along by the wrist, and then opened the garage door, revealing the vehicles stowed within.

"You have ridden a bike before, right?" asked Alex, pulling on the leather jacket that he usually wore with his uniform. He strode over to a black, silver, and green motorcycle, and Kris realized that Alex's jacket matched his bike.

"No, not really," Kris answered, vaguely remembering a toy dirt bike that he once had when he was little.

"Good, get on," Alex laughed, patting the seat behind him. "Don't worry, I won't drive recklessly. Just try not to 'spark' on the leather. I paid good money for this." Kris laughed, grabbing a helmet off the wall and sitting behind Alex, firmly gripping the older boy's waist.

"Hold on!" The bike lurched, and then sped out of the garage and soon enough, out of the gate. They could just see Logan's bike a few city blocks away, turning around a corner.

* * *

><p>It took Dani about thirty minutes to realize that all three Riveras had snuck out. Dani wondered if she should call the school, knowing that her job as Director Smith's assistant would be in jeopardy if she didn't. But before she could dial the number, the ring of the door bell interrupted her fingers.<p>

"Yes? May I help you?" she asked as she opened the door and revealed a teenage girl with brown and pink hair, and a bald man in a wheelchair.

"Yes, I do believe so," said the man, and Dani could tell that he had a hint of a British accent. What was a British man doing at the Smiths' doorstep? Maybe a client of Mr. Smith. "My name is Charles Xavier, and this is Avalon Bronte. We'd like to speak to you a moment about Rivera."

Her mind practically jumped. What did they want with Rivera? She had a funny feeling that this was about last night, but she didn't press it. "She just left for school, sir. Don't worry."

He shook his head, but it was Ava who replied. "No. We're not from her school. We're from the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters."

"So, what?" Dani asked suspiciously. "Where in the world is that?"

"It's a school for children with certain…talents and abilities that no other children her age possess. We operate out of Bayville, New York, not very far from New York City," explained Xavier.

"You're from a school all the way across the country, and you want to speak with Rivera? Why in the world would you want that?" Dani asked. "Is this a scholarship or something that she has won?"

Xavier looked toward Ava, probably for help. "No, ma'am, she hasn't won anything. We know about her special… gifts."

"Why don't you tell us about last night?" asked Xavier, jumping right into the heat of things.

Dani, taken aback for a moment, regained her composure. "So that's what this is about. The government wants to test on her or something. Well, I don't think she needs anything. She's perfectly fine where she is."

"No, you have to listen. We just want to talk about it!" Ava tried, but Dani shut the door hard.

Xavier turned, sighing. "Well, you'll have to connect with her at her school, Ava. It's the only way."

* * *

><p>Rivera silently walked through the hall, ready for her fifth period class. Her mind kept flickering back and forth between images and sounds that she could only see and hear through her mind. The other two Riveras were basically hiding in the janitors' closet, trying to keep out of sight while she went to school. She couldn't have the two of them making the other students question her.<p>

She was just biding her time at her locker, when all of a sudden, the late bell rang. The halls began to thin, and she was being distracted by an argument going on in her head between Rivera 2 and Rivera 3, or whatever she was going to call them. They were arguing over what Rivera should do, like some kind of conscience or something. Rivera 2 wanted her to go back to Dani, but Rivera 3 knew that she didn't need Dani. It was quite distracting, enough that she didn't even know that the next class had already begun.

"Running late, there, Rivvy?" asked a voice behind her. She turned and saw her non-friend Riley and the goony Amy behind her. Before she even knew what to think, or even before she could counter it with a karate move, the two girls pushed her into her open locker and then slammed the door shut, spinning the lock.

"Let me out! You jerks!" she yelled, and the bickering in her head stopped to one of revenge and concern.

_We should probably save her,_ said Rivera Two. Or was it Three? She couldn't keep track.

_No, we should beat up the girls that locked her away!_ yelled the other triplet.

It was then that she heard footsteps, and a slight whirring sound, like a can of hairspray. "Hey! Somebody help!" she banged on the door several times, upset that it wouldn't budge.

Finally she gave it a mighty kick, slamming it open. And right through a column of water. The door seemed to splash right through it, sending water everywhere and reducing it to a puddle.

"What?" she asked, but soon enough, she got her answer. She watched in silent mystery and amazement as the water that was spread all along the floor and lockers began to flow into one point, gathering and reforming into a column again. After a few moments, tattered jeans, a dark blue hoodie, and skin began to appear, and before I knew it, a tall boy, about six feet, was standing in front of her, staring at this hands.

"Whoa! That was awesome! Did you see that?" he exclaimed cheerfully, looking himself over. "I've turned into water before, but that was cool. I've never done it like that before!"

"What?' Rivera stared in disbelief, not knowing what to think again. She watched over the boy's shoulder as the two triplets returned to the scene, looking ready to rip off the boy's watery head.

"Oh, I guess my secret is blown. Oh, well," he muttered, and then looked behind his shoulder and saw the two triplets, both staring at him confidently. And then back at her. "You're that Rivera girl, right? Well, at least, one of you is. I didn't know you were a triplet."

"I'm not," she answered, and as soon as the words left her mouth, there was a white flash of light. When it cleared, there was only one Rivera again, but their thoughts were still running through her head.

"You're like me!" the boy exclaimed. "That's totally cool! What can you do? Make clones or something?"

His questions seemed to never end, but I just shrugged him off, nearly to the point of completely freaking out. "I'm nothing like you! Just leave me alone!"

Rivera ran as quickly as possible, trying desperately to get away from that freak. She didn't know why he creeped her out so much, aside from the obvious water-body thing. One side of her (probably Rivera 2 if she had to guess), was wondering why she thought that the boy was really any different from her. They were similar in so many ways. But Rivera 3 was basically telling her that no matter if he was the same as her or not, they should stick together.

She hurried to P.E. changing quickly so that she wouldn't be any later than she already was. When she finally exited the locker room, the coach was already issuing assignments and she had missed her call.

"Smith, you're late," the coach said, marking it off on her clipboard.

"I know, Coach. Locker problems strike at the worst times," she said as loudly as possible so that Amy and Riley, the two jerks who shoved her into the locker, could hear her defiance.

"All right, you three," Coach began, pointing to Amy, Riley, and Rivera, "to the long jump. Smith, since you were tardy, you're up first." The girl groaned, and the two jerk-girls just grinned.

* * *

><p>"Archie, how about this? Do you think we can sneak into the building from this roof hatch?"<p>

"No, you moron! It's rigged to the alarm systems. We'd never get passed it."

"Well, Archie's got his whole water-thing. That's got to count for something, right?"

"Well, yeah, but he can't get this open without triggering the alarm."

"But if he goes in as water, they'll only see a puddle. They won't know about him at all!"

The boy, Archie, looked on his two so-called "friends" and tried to control his temper. "Would you guys shut up? I might be able to get in, but I don't think I can get out without wetting the test answers." He pointed down toward the track, seeing the girl that he had just met, the one who apparently could triple herself or something. "Besides, I think I can get her to help us out. Those test answers will be ours, and we need to do it today. When the principal goes to lunch, and the vice-principal changes his shift to watch the office, we'll be able to get in. It will be all right. Just trust me."

The other two weren't sure, but they followed him just the same. As they always had.

Archie watched as the girl, Rivera, warmed up, took a stance, and charged down the lane. But when she hit the ground hard, only a couple feet from the start, she pounded the ground in defeat and then turned back.

When Amy strode up to the long jump lane, Archie smirked. He knew that this could be fun. As she started to run, he concentrated on the powers he was slowly learning.

A small jet of water from the water fountain a few feet away arced toward Amy at the last moment before she jumped, and the girl fell to the ground, startled. He smirked and then grinned at himself when Amy landed behind the line that Rivera had set.

* * *

><p>Rivera, sensing something was up, let her eyes wander and locked eyes with Archie on the roof of the main building. She merely shook her head when he waved at her triumphantly.<p>

The triplet had to fight the urge to laugh when Amy walked off, blaming the old water fountains. But when another jet splattered into Riley's face, the two girls turned on Rivera. She backtracked, knowing that she would somehow take the blame. She turned and ran right into a warm body.

"Oh, sorry!" the girl began, but Ava cut her off.

"No, it was my fault," Ava finished. "I wasn't paying attention. I'm Ava Bronte."

"Rivera," the girl answered, rubbing her hair back behind her ear before looking behind her shoulder as the two preppy girls behind her began to approach, neither one looking very happy. Before the two could interfere, Ava glared at them with as fierce a look as possible, and the two girls quickly backed off.

"I've actually been looking for you, if you'd like to talk," Ava began, trying to find the right words.

Rivera's eyebrow rose, suspicions rising. "What about?"

"Is there a place where we can talk?" Ava asked uneasily, not sure of where she was going with any of this. "This isn't really the place."

Rivera, not certain about this girl yet, decided on a whim to lead her to the bleachers, which were mostly empty at the time. The coach had gone to the locker room like she always does, so they were probably free for a moment.

"What is this about? I'm kind of freaked at the moment, so if you could just cut to the chase, that would be great," suggested Rivera.

Ava took a deep breath, trying to find the starting point. "If I know from experience, and I do, you have nothing to freak out about. Something similar happened to me not too long ago."

Rivera nearly stood up in defiance. "What do you mean? I don't understand! It's all so confusing…"

"I saw what happened to you in the hallway, with that Archie boy, when those…what's the word? 'Clones?' 'Duplicates?' 'Triplets'?" She pondered it for a moment, before shrugging. "Anyway, when two people who looked identical right down to the clothes fused into you, I saw it. And it doesn't freak me out as much as you think it would. See, I can do something similar. But promise me that you won't freak out and tell anyone?"

Rivera merely shrugged, too curious and terrified to think of doing anything like that. Ava seemed to take that positively, turned toward the sky, and focused. Her eyes started to glow a slight pink color, a hue that Rivera couldn't recognize. All of a sudden, booming thunder shook the sky.

"Did you just-"

Ava nodded, returning to normal eye color. "Yeah, I did. I'm pretty good with lightning, thunder, and whirlwinds when I concentrate. I can't do much of anything beyond that, but I'm working on it."

"How can you do that? What are you? Some kind of freak?"

Suddenly, without warning, Archie appeared and placed his hand on Ava's shoulder. The girl jumped, eyes glowing, and the hydrokinetic was nearly electrified, based on the amaranth glow around her hands. Archie backed away cautiously, not wanting to tango with her.

"Rivera doesn't need your help," he said, putting his arm around Rivera. "I can tell her everything that she needs to know. Just back off, and leave us alone."

Ava was about to retort something profound when a mental warning sounded across her brain. "Do not antagonize him. We will get through to her; it will just take a matter of time."

The professor managed to calm her down with his message, and she let Archie guide Rivera away from her.

Ava just had to hope that it didn't mean failure.

* * *

><p>Rivera let Archie lead her to the top of the main building, where she had seen him earlier that day. He was silent, letting her think on her own. He didn't push or pester her, but she wasn't sure whom she should trust.<p>

Archie stood at the edge of the roof, staring out at the field below, watching PE classes doing their usual routines. Rivera studied his face, and it seemed that he was thinking hard. Contemplating the meaning of life, it seemed.

"You don't understand it, do you?" he asked. "This power that we suddenly have? It makes us stronger, faster, and better than regular people. And yet, I've never felt more alone."

She didn't know what to say. He had a point in some ways, but it didn't feel like it should be so black and white to her. "Well, you have me, if that helps. We can be alone together."

That seemed to be the reaction he was hoping for. His face lit up for a moment, but died down when he realized that she had noticed.

"Are you sure you even want to be around me?" Archie asked. "I'm more of a freak than you are. Sure, you can triple yourself."

"And copy movements and voices," she added, but he didn't see it funny like she did.

"But that's disguisable. If you were to move schools, you could just enroll your duplicates as your fake triplets," he explained, and she realized that she had never really thought about it that way.

"And hey, you are made of water," she added. "It's not like you can tell."

Archie took her hand and placed it between both of his. It took a moment, but then she felt it. The cold, wet water flowed throughout his hand, and when she pulled it away, there was a thin layer of liquid across her skin. "See? I can't even touch something without it ending up wet."

She frowned, wondering what that would be like. "Well, you can always carry around a box of Bounty paper towels. You know, they say that it's the Quicker-Picker-Upper."

He chuckled. "Yeah, maybe." He looked at her, wondering if she would help him or not. He glanced at his watch, and it was around thirty minutes before thieving time. "Hey, I've got to take care of a few things. Can you meet me here in thirty minutes? I'll try to help you control it."

Rivera merely shrugged and nodded. As the boy climbed back down, and then helped her down the ladder. "See ya," she murmured.

"I hope so," he replied.

* * *

><p>Kris and Alex had been riding along the open road for what seemed like hours. Logan and the guy that he was pursuing were not the safest drivers, and neither one seemed to want to settle down and stop. It was like an endless loop all through Bayville, and if Alex had to dodge another car, he would probably scream.<p>

Finally, Logan pulled up to a parking garage, and they barely had enough time to park before he had disappeared inside.

"Do you think he saw us?" asked Kris.

Alex could only shrug. "Probably, but it doesn't matter. Let's just follow him up there. I would brace yourself for a fight. Logan isn't a talk-first, slice-later kind of fellow."

"But is that slicing directed towards us or that other guy?"

Alex was about to respond when there was a crash from above, and without warning, a man and a motorcycle missing a front wheel fell from the top floor of the garage. And right toward Alex's bike.

Dynamo charged an emerald green blast in his hands and then fired it upwards, hitting it at an angle that deflected the bike almost right before it could crush it. Kris watched as the man manage to grab hold of a ledge and pull himself back into the garage.

"Come on!" Sparkplug yelled, pulling Dynamo behind him. "We've got to get up there!"

They hurried as quickly as they could, taking the stairs rather than the elevator. They managed to finally arrive on the top floor, and just in time too. The big brute of a man with long dirty blond hair and very beast-like features was pinning Wolverine between a car and a concrete pillar.

"One shall fall by the other's hand! Our destiny, Logan! We can't change it!" said the beastly man.

"Hey, Hairball! I've got your destiny right here!" Dynamo yelled, holding both fists together and firing a concussive beam of green-white energy. It slammed into the burly man, flinging him from the position and into a concrete pillar ten yards away, forming a large dent. Both Sparkplug and Dynamo burst into the fray then, just as Wolverine got himself out.

The beast of a man ran forward, leaping like a leopard. Dynamo was helpless as the speedy animal sliced his chest with his claw, ripping his jacket and the shirt underneath. Kris paused and freaked, but Logan wasn't upset at all and dove into the man at full force, throwing him several feet away into the car.

"Are you okay?" Kris asked, kneeling beside him. But before his very eyes, a greenish glow erupted from the wound and repaired the skin, stitching it back together again. "I guess so!"

"Rapid healing thing that Logan and I share, except mine leaves me extremely tired," Alex said, obviously exhausted. "I think I have enough for one more blast, but it will be weak."

"Shoot me," Kris replied as Logan and the other man grappled, neither gaining the upper hand. "It will be stronger then, too."

Dynamo shrugged and weakly blasted the absorbing mutant. A green aura covered Sparkplug as he stepped up to rejoin the battle.

He couldn't get a good shot in with the two animalistic mutants battling it out with fists and claws. Finally, Logan managed to latch onto the man's arm and hurled him toward the elevator. Kris took his chance and released the energy beam, as doubly strong as Dynamo's last blast. The energy collided with the man's stomach and forcefully accelerated him right through the elevator door. The man was hurt, but took the advantage and hit the down button. Before Logan, Kris, and Alex could reach him, the elevator was descending.

"This was just a little taste, Logan! And tell your little kiddies to watch their backs!" yelled the voice.

"Who in the hell was that?" Kris asked, and Wolverine could only grunt.

"Sabretooth."

"Hey, we won though, right?" Alex asked weakly.

"I don't fight your battles, so I don't need you fighting mine," Logan grumbling off and leaving Kris and Alex just looking at him in confusion.

* * *

><p>Rivera managed to meet Archie on time, as expected, on the roof, the sunset streaming onto the roof. The boy was pacing, worried about what was going to happen. Rivera didn't know why he was so nervous, but it was making her queasy watching him.<p>

"How _do_ you control it?" she asked, sincerely hoping that he could show her.

"By admitting what no one ever wants to admit: that we are outsiders. And that there is something wrong with us," Archie muttered, a stoic expression on his face. "The way I see it, fate dealt us winning cards, even if the odds feel like they are stacked against us. If you and I play those cards together, we'd be unbeatable."

"Why isn't any of this making any sense?" Rivera asked, feeling like crying for her always too-busy mother. Rivera Two was screaming not to trust him, but Rivera Three was noticing how sexily confident Archie was and that she should go with him until the end of her days.

"That's why I'm here. To show you the path," he explained. "And the first step on that path is to distract the office staff so that I can sneak into the office."

Her eyes flashed with wonder and suspicions. "Wait, what?"

"I need something from inside. The principal took something valuable from me, and I want it back. You and I can work together, and I can get back the thing that means so much to me," Archie said, sounding entirely sincere.

She gulped and nodded. "But how do I distract them? I don't understand."

"Well, the first things first, you should probably split into three. Then you can decide how to do this. Maybe you could come into the office one by one, explaining that you need something each time so that everyone in the office gets spread out?" he suggested, and she figured it was just time to learn how to control things, even if she questions his motives.

She concentrated, thinking about Rivera Two and Rivera Three separately and yet together. It only took a few moments before there was a white flash and both Riveras were there. They were silent, except for their thoughts.

Slowly, she waited on Archie's signal and headed into the office. She decided she would send the main Rivera in first, and the other two would follow her after a set time. And somehow, although exhilarating, it was terrifying. Knowing they were that close to being caught was exciting, and she had to focus on the goal.

She drew away the secretary with the excuse of needing a key for a locker. Once out of ear and eyeshot, the second Rivera entered and used the excuse on the assistant principal for puke in the bathroom. And the last Rivera was about a fight across campus, sending the principal to take care of things. And now, there's no one else in the office. She assumed that Archie would get the memo. After a safe and reasonably long time, she appeared in the main courtyard again, and waited on her.

"Rivera, you don't need this," Ava said, coming up to her in a rather skimpy outfit; the secretary had gone and left after the last bell rang, the last to leave out of all the students and faculty. The gray fabric was only covering pretty much the essential places, and _x's_ were embossed on several areas of her outfit, colored in red and black. "You don't have to become a criminal like Archie, Rivera. Come with me to the Xavier Institute. It's where I've learned to control my gifts, and I think you would benefit too."

Rivera thought she sounded sincere, but it was impossible to tell with all the mental hammering from one version of her to the next. But before she could reply, her mother and father suddenly appeared from behind her. "Please, Rivera. Listen to her," pleaded her mother.

"This Institute will be good for you," her dad explained. "I promise."

"Since when can you decide what's good for me?" she answered, furious. She would regret that statement later, but it sounded good at the moment.

"I'm the only one who knows what's good for her!" Archie appeared, putting something into a bag. She couldn't tell what it was, but it looked like a Scantron sheet.

"Yeah, right!" Ava exclaimed, her eyes glowing with energy. Rivera didn't want it to get ugly, but she didn't know how to stop it. She had a feeling that it was going to escalate no matter what she did to try to stop it.

Suddenly, a blast of water slammed into Ava, pushing her along the ground in a thin but strong current of white liquid. She ended up against the wall of the main building, very sore before the fight even really started. But she was quick to rise, and very quick to temper. It only took a second before amaranth bolts of lightning were flying across the empty courtyard at the figure of Archie, who was somehow dodging them. The hydrokinetic used all the water fountains in the area and gathered water into a sort of wall, and as it came upon Tempest, she backtracked and shot bolt after bolt, trying to ignore her extreme exhaustion that was quickly rising. Each time her attack hit, more and more of the half-wave was blasted apart. But it wasn't enough and the wave slammed into her, pinning her against the wall again.

Rivera was peeled between both sides, not sure who to root for.

"You can't win, Archie," Ava sneered. "Didn't Professor Oak ever tell you that electricity is strong against water?" A thundercloud _BOOMED_ at that moment, and another bolt of amaranth lightning shot down, this one larger than the rest. Archie hurled a wave of water toward it, and then dodged it, somehow getting out of its way.

"I will win! And she will be with me!" Archie yelled, but at that moment, both fighting mutants were assaulted mentally, ending up on their knees in pain.

"STOP!" Xavier yelled psychically and physically. "There's no use in fighting any more. Let Rivera decide where she wants to go."

Rivera was suddenly thrust into the spotlight, every person in the courtyard looking at her. Ava and Xavier, Archie and her parents, and even her mother and father whether they were a large part of her life or not. Archie was rough on the outside, but soft and sweet on the inside. And she was certain that Archie was up to no good. Her parents thought Xavier's would be a good place, and the professor seemed nice enough from what she has seen of him.

"Fine," she said, the decision simple. "I'm going to go to the Institute. It might take some getting used to, but I think I can manage. If you'll have me, of course?"

"Of course," Xavier said just as Archie yelled, "No!" The mutant boy looked like he might still have some fight left in him, but one look and a mental prod from Xavier left him practically powerless. Before anyone could do anything about it, Archie ran, disappearing from the area.

"The Institute will be a good fit for you, Rivera," said Xavier. "So long as your parents agree."

Both her mother and father agreed without another thought, probably knowing that not only would it be good for her, but it would get the girl out of their hair.

"Well, with that settled," Xavier said, smiling, "let's get the rest of her things in order and then we'll be on our way."

Rivera gulped and got ready for the next step in her life.

* * *

><p>Archie Jones stood outside the school, watching with anger as Rivera left with the cripple and his crew.<p>

The woman walked from behind the trees, startling the hydrokinetic as he stalked off. "I'd say you've blown your chances at this school, haven't you?"

Archie stared at the tall, unfamiliar woman. "And you are?"

"Your new advisor. I've made an opening for you at Bayville High. I've got much to teach you," the woman said as her appearance suddenly shifted to a tall woman with blue skin and red hair, "my young Madidus."

* * *

><p><strong>It wasn't TOO horrible was it? I felt like I was fighting sleep (because I was) throughout the last half of it, so if you notice some stupid little grammarpunctuation/word choice problems, please, let your mind fill it in**


	5. Rogue Recruit: Finding Her Voice

**Shout-Outs: To Fire Makes Me Smile for creating Dean! She's a great OC!**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Rogue Recruit:<strong>_  
><em><strong>Finding Her Voice<strong>_

The girl pulled on her brown parka in a hurry and then lightly brushed her white hair. She was in a hurry and did not want to be late. And she shouldn't keep Elder waiting anyways.

She smiled when the cold air hit her skin outside. It was a pleasantly cold morning, but the feel of humidity was thick in the air and she hoped that a snowstorm wouldn't mess with the day's festivities.

The village was abuzz, everyone getting ready for the annual fishing festival. It was beginning soon and everyone was trading for seats, for poles, and even for fishing spears. Children were running around, yelling various games of pretend. Excitement was thickening because the festival was one of the largest events of the season. And she couldn't feel any more apprehensive.

She was asked this year to sing the fishing blessing after the speech, the song that has been passed from generation to generation in the Inuit culture. Sure, her job was made easier when it was translated to English, but it was still difficult to stand in front of everyone and sing. So naturally, she couldn't refuse.

The girl took a deep breath as she approached the "stage," a flat of land near the ocean inlet of icy water. Most of the year, sheets of ice covered the area, but this part of the year was the prime time for this type of festival. The village Elder was sitting on a wooden bench overlooking the sea, whittling a wooden spear with a hunting knife. He was supervising the feast being prepared by the women of the village, making certain that food was placed in the right areas and cooked to perfection.

"Are you planning on fishing today?" she greeted him, sitting down on the bench beside him.

"I thought I might," he said, his kind eyes and silver-gray hair bright. "Adeana, are you ready to give the blessing?"

The girl merely sighed. "I suppose so. It's too late to back out now. Oh, and please, call me 'Dean.'"

"Sorry about that," he said, smiling. "It's hard to remember all the names nowadays. And we would be upset if you backed out now."

Suddenly, the village horn blew, and she took a few deep breaths to try to calm her nerves. It was nearing the start of the festival, and families were starting to stream into the area, sitting along the benches in huddled groups. Everyone could feel the weather starting to shift, but no one knew if it was for the better.

As everyone lined in, Elder took his own deep breath and then rose from his seat, carrying his spear with him. He greeted everyone in the village, and then talked about ancestral tradition, fishing practices, and village history through fishing. It seemed like only seconds to Dean when he said, "And, finally, let's give a warm welcome to Adeana Rocca! She'll be singing the blessing for the celebration today." He gestured to her, and it was all she could do not to run out now.

They cheered for her as she walked into the "stage." She smiled at the audience, feeling nervous and weak at the same time. Her insides were boiling with fright, and her throat was on fire. The pressure seemed to envelop her very being. She would describe it later as feeling as though bugs were crawling over every inch, and under every crevice.

The crowd waited anxiously for her to begin, but it was getting hard to concentrate on anything. She cleared her throat, trying to ignore the pain that brought her, and then realized that her hands were shaking. She clawed at her parka to get her to stop, but she couldn't gain stability. Something was happening to her, but she couldn't decide what it was. A panic attack, maybe? Or perhaps it was something that she ate?

Dean looked on the villagers, their anxiety and concern for her nearly palpable. Some wanted to know what was wrong, while a few of their healers tried to give her aid, but she just shrugged them off with her hand. Taking another deep and long breath, she opened her mouth, and then forgot the words.

Elder walked up to her from his place on the front row of benches and said, "Dean, you don't have to do this. If it bothers you, we'll stop now."

She shook her head, willing herself to open her mouth and sing. And finally, it did. As soon as the words left her tongue, her throat fire dulled to a low ache. All worry in the entire village seemed to melt, all looking at her with an almost somber expression as she sang about tradition and proving worth. The words about Inuit gods and the fishing history enwrapped the village. She was glad that they loved it, and continued her song jubilantly.

The beauty of the moment seemed to permeate the very air itself. She looked toward the sea, and watched with question as fish of various kinds were jumping over the waves to listen. Seals crawled up from their ice floes and looked toward the girl with a fever excitement, and even the birds were either encircling the villagers in the sky or on the ground. All kinds of life wanted to hear her voice, and the only person who noticed was her. The rest were too mesmerized to care.

Dean didn't stop her song, and almost felt like she couldn't. Her friend Cam would have wanted her to stay, and the feeling of losing her brought tears to her eyes. All the emotion of the moment sort of took over her for a moment, and when she sobbed once and then cried out…

Someone in the front row, sitting right next to Elder, screamed. Everyone in the village was broken from the "spell," as they rushed to see what had happened. Old Lady Ginger's arm was bleeding, the blood spurting onto the snow below, staining the ground. The village healers were going to take care of her, when Dean gasped at the sight of the blood.

Suddenly, the birds fell to the ground. Someone else a few rows back, a man she thought, fell to the cold earth and starting clawing for air. Chaos had seemed to take over, and when she gasped again in surprise, another man fell and repeated the process that the first had taken, both not able to get oxygen.

That's when she screamed.

And when nearly half the crowd lost an eardrum.

* * *

><p>Back at the Institute, a masked figure dressed in black garb ran through the yard, dodging the mansion security as though it didn't exist. A few cannons tried to lock on, but the figure just barreled through, agilely leaping up the wall and onto the roof. He slid down the chimney and started to crawl through the ventilation systems.<p>

Storm wasn't impressed as she met the intruder in the attic. "Impressive. You used the air vents to get past the automated defense systems. But you won't get past me!" She flung out her arms, calling a wind to blow open the window, but the intruder was smart to re-enter the air duct before they could hit him.

"Testing me, hmm?" asked Ororo, rising into the air. "Well, it's time I reminded you why they call me Storm!" A storm cloud wrapped itself around the mansion's chimney, before pouring rain into the opening. What resulted was a wave of water that flushed the intruder out, and right into the wall of the Danger Room. The man stood, ready to strike.

"You look a little flushed," she mocked. "And the forecast isn't good." The man leapt into the air and met a blast of icy-cold wind, blowing him against the wall and flash freezing him for good measure.

It only took a moment for the man to break out, and then check all his limbs and muscles. "That…was…cold," he said, practically shaking.

Storm smirked, pressing a button on the control panel of the Danger Room. "Well, let's warm you up a bit."

A cannon rose out of the wall and fired a light green laser, but the man just jumped forward, extending his claws and embedding them into the device, shorting it out and sending him flying with a electric explosion.

"You gotta connect first," the man bragged, cracking his knuckles. His uniform was in ruins, his skin showing in several places but it wasn't harmed. "What else you got for me?"

Storm pressed a button and a revolving machine with large metallic claws rose from the ground and began to spin. The intruder dodged the first and cut right through the second with his metallic claws. He was about to go for a third when Storm shut off the program and said, "That's enough, Logan. We're finished for now."

The young X-Men, having watched the whole display, were in various sorts of emotions. Alex was trying not to laugh that Logan got knocked on his ass by Storm, and Kris was lazily taking in details, lounging back against the wall. Rivera and her two clones were watching the exchange in complete awe, and Ava was staring at Storm with sheer distaste.

"I could've helped you, you know?" Ava complained, but Ororo shook her head.

"No, you couldn't. That simulation was about strategy, not sheer power," explained Storm, a little smugly, if Ava were to judge.

Tempest was not happy with that answer at all, and as her temper flared, so did the amaranth lightning bolt that nearly zapped Wolverine as he was leaving the Danger Room. Well, she was not going to get away with that one.

"Well, I can't say that that wasn't cool," Rivera said, her triplets matching her expression. She was not yet done being amazed by all the technological advantages the mansion had. She still missed home, but mostly Dani. She figured that she would call home as soon as they had free time and give her an update.

"Yeah, the Danger Room has its moments," Alex answered, renewing his laughter when Logan walked into the room, in tattered clothing.

"What's your problem, Beam Boy?" Logan grumbled, but Alex raised his hands in surrender.

"I'm sorry, Wolvy, but it was refreshing to see you on the other end of a beat down."

"Well, if you don't get your act together, I'll show you and ThunderCat over there just how 'refreshing' my claws can be," Logan said, glaring at Ava for the almost-electrocution.

"Is anybody ready to get down there and repeat the exercise?" Ava asked, unfazed by Logan's threat.

"Assuming Wolverine left a piece of it intact," Alex added, grinning.

"I didn't break the entire Danger Room, now did I?" Logan countered, glaring at Kris and Alex.

"This is no time for that," Xavier suddenly said, sounding very urgent. "We're suiting up the whole team for this one. Cerebro has detected a very dangerous and powerful mutant in the far north of Canada. According to my mental impression, she's unstable, her powers are very raw, and she could hurt or injure others in the wrong hands."

Wolverine and Storm immediately followed the Professor, but the young ones were looking very confusedly at each other. It was Kris who asked, "Whose 'wrong hands' are we talking about here?"

Xavier shook his head as he beckoned them to follow. "We don't have enough time. We have a rogue mutant on our hands, and she could be hurting others as we speak."

* * *

><p>As soon as the image of a very powerful Adeana ended, Irene picked up the phone she kept near her couch on the end table. The number was on speed dial, and it only took a moment before the familiar voice answered, "Destiny, what did you see?"<p>

"Adeana's powers have manifested. You do not have much time before Xavier's team arrives. Get on a plane and head there now."

The voice hesitated before saying, "I will. Thank you, Irene. Is there anything else I should know?"

"Her powers are very unstable. They shift in my visions from one form to the next, and it is hard for me to comprehend exactly what form they will take. The only thing I know is that they are linked to her voice," Irene explained, hoping that it would help Raven in any way. "You must hurry. She's a Level Five, as I had always predicted. Prepare yourself, and she will return to us."

"Thank you, Destiny," Raven said. "I'm leaving now."

The phone clicked off, and Irene sighed, thinking of the girl with auburn hair in her visions.

* * *

><p>Dean knew she had done it. She knew it was her. She didn't know how, or even why, but her voice was hurting people. Every sound that came out of her mouth was somehow drastically damaging to any living thing near her.<p>

She had started to leave the village in shame, but the image of the hurt people came coming back to her mind. She needed to stay, to atone for her sins somehow, so she decided that she would head to the healers and help them out in any way she could. She couldn't just leave these people here, no matter how much she wanted to.

The healers were receptive of her, and she was surprised that there weren't as many people hurt as she had thought. It seemed like half the crowd of people had been screaming and bleeding from their ear, but there were only about twenty people or so in varying ages hurting.

"Maybe the cold did it," one of the healers, a small old woman with frail features, said. "I've heard that the cold can have some dangerous affects on people."

"But that's usually only when they aren't used to it already," said another, a middle aged woman with flashing red hair. "When the body is used to this kind of cold, it isn't as detrimental."

She wanted to say something. To tell them that it had been her. They wouldn't have believed her, and probably would have thought she was insane. But some instinct within her told her to keep silent. She knew that they wouldn't understand, and she would probably be shunned for all she was worth.

It was also very difficult to say anything when you are scared of your own voice. She did all she could to break fevers, fight infection, and increase comfort without speaking at all. But when she came to this little girl, clutching a stuffed bear and bandaged in one ear, her resolve started to plummet.

"Dean, will you sing me a song? You sing so well!" the little girl said, now recognizing her to be Ginger, one of the kids in her school that she had seen wandering around.

Dean's heart nearly broke as she saw the sight of the innocent girl with one good ear asking her to sing. She nodded, her fight against her own voice ending as she started singing the song "Be Strong," by Delta Goodrem. As the song progressed, she watched in silent horror as the people in the tent were hypnotized by her voice, listening to her every word with undisrupted attention. The little girl's face was happy again, almost a creepy euphoric happiness, and she was reminded so much of the other time that she had sung that day that she gave up in the middle of the song, looked at the girl sweetly, and then left the tent in silence. She was too distraught to face anyone, too freaked out from everything that had happened, that she headed to the boundary of the village and kept going, not paying any attention to the mounting snowstorm that would soon attack the frozen wilderness.

Had she stayed in the village a moment longer, she would have heard the healers' happy and freaked shouts that every injury in the tent had suddenly been healed.

* * *

><p>The Blackbird whirred beneath them, Storm and Ava at the helm. The older weather manipulator was helping the younger with her piloting skills. Even the newest student Rivera had noticed that the two pilots didn't have the best relationship.<p>

Kris nudged Alex in the shoulder, and then leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Ever thought about how hot Ava is?" Alex nearly choked on the chips he was stuffing his face with. "You really haven't? What are you, blind?" Kris asked incredulously.

"Ava? You mean the temperamental…stubborn…no-holds-barred," after each word, he spoke slower and slower as his brain comprehended and his blush grew and grew, "extremely gorgeous Ava?"

"I thought so," Kris muttered, smiling and grabbing a handful of Alex's chips.

* * *

><p>The plane screeched to a halt, and Principal Darkholme stepped out, glad for the speedy plane. If not for her leader's influence, she would never have arrived fast enough.<p>

She headed towards the airport, looking for a place where she could change. She stood at the base of the main building and checked to make sure no one was near. And that no cameras were watching. It only took a moment to shift into her new form, a snow owl. She took to the skies, eyes peeled as she headed toward Adeana's village.

Dean stared ahead, not daring to look back. Her shoes were not thick enough for this kind of hike, and the cold winds were blowing harder than she would like. She might enjoy the cold, but as soon as it is classified as "freezing," she doesn't have any part in it.

She kept thinking over the two times that she had sung. The first time lots of people got hurt in various ways, and she had somehow called animals to her. The second time, she seemed to not do either one.

She decided that she would just do it and not worry about it. She sang the song she had sung in the healers' tent, and watched in semi-amazement when a tiny white rat appeared on the ground, along with two of its buddies, all three rats staring at her as she sang.

Dean prayed silently for what she was about to do. She thought about what had happened in the first song and gasped. Suddenly, one of the rats fell over and started heaving for breath. She sobbed like she had when she was tearing up, and blood pooled from a cut in the second rat's leg. Then she fought her better judgment and screamed with all her might. All three rats instantly started to bleed from both ears, and not one of them looked like they would survive.

The gravity of what she had just done hit her like a wall of bricks. She shouldn't have hurt hose animals like that, and she had no idea why she had done it. As some kind of sick test, she wondered?

She stared at the three animals in agony, and nearly started to cry. She whispered, "Please, get better…," and when nothing happened, she just turned around and started to walk off, not sure of where she was going.

It was a few moments later when something nipped at her leg. She looked down and saw one of the rats, looking every bit as healthy as they were before she hurt them. Dean looked in surprise as the three rats were not harmed in any way.

She had just healed them? It didn't seem to register in her head that she done something good with it, but she didn't have a lot of time to process it.

Suddenly, a man in orange and black suit seemed to drop from the sky right in front of her. He was short, but very heavily built, and the growling noises he was making was intimidating enough.

"You don't stand a chance against one of the X-Men!" the man yelled, suddenly sprouting claws and swiping at the girl. Dean managed to backtrack and dodge, but squealed as she fell to the ground.

The man suddenly burst into pimples and boils, and it took her a moment to realize that she had done it with her squeal. She just high-tailed it out of there, heading toward the only place she knew around the area that could work as a hiding place.

* * *

><p>"So you have no idea where she is?" asked Alex. The younger X-Men were standing outside the Elder's home in the village, asking about Dean.<p>

"No. We suspect that she took off, and I've sent a search party. She's close, I just don't know how close and in what direction. She can't have gone far," explained the Elder. Ava just thanked her and led the group away and out of earshot.

"What do we do?" Rivera asked, wondering if she should split into three to make searching easier. She practically shivered, despite the parka that the villagers let the group borrow.

"I guess we wait on Storm's signal," explained Ava. "She said she would signal with thunder when she found the girl."

As if on cue, thunder shook the sky and their ears. Alex looked toward Ava with almost laughing eyes. "Huh. I think she's louder than you."

Tempest sneered at him, nearly blasting him with a bolt of lightning. "Shut up."

* * *

><p>Dean didn't stop running until she arrived at the cabin. It was old and rackety, but sturdy enough that no one would use it for anything other than a hunting trip in the spring or summer. She snuck through a hole in the wall near the door, knowing it would be locked.<p>

She looked on the cabin with memories of her father taking her fishing and hunting, using this place as a sort of campground. She thought about him now, back at home, working on his fishing skills for his part in the fishing tournament. And then her mother was probably still working at school, getting lesson plans and who knows what else.

That's when she heard someone shuffling in the kitchen. She crept closely, catching a few of the creaking boards. Yeah, was she crazy for going towards the sound? Probably. But she was doing it anyway.

The kitchen was dimly lit, probably by a candle of some sort. She pushed the crack until she saw a woman with white hair, fiddling with an old oil lantern. The woman was beautiful, with chocolate colored skin, flowing white hair, and deep bright blue eyes.

She was about to greet her, thought about her voice problems, and decided to just knock to announce her arrival. The woman turned, and when she saw her, there was a sigh of relief.

"Oh, there you are," the woman said, immediately standing and walking over to her. "I've been looking all over for you. Come now, we don't have much time."

Dean gave her a questioning look, but the woman just scoffed. "Oh, I'm just taking you to my friends, the X-Men. We're going to make sure you get the best care possible." She said it ominously, and Dean pushed away.

"Stay away from me!" The girl backpedaled, heading right for the door. The woman moved to follow, but as soon as she got close, there was a CRACK, and the woman immediately screamed out. She fell to the ground, and Dean saw that the woman's leg was broken at the knee.

Freaking out again, she ran, heading for the outdoors. Naturally, the storm had started while she was inside, having blown fresh snow across the cabin, and she debated staying inside with the woman who apparently wanted to capture her. Dean could trap her and keep her locked up, right? But her better judgment ruled it out, and before she knew it, she was heading into the storm, taking the oil lamp and an extra parka or two from the closet. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

><p>It was only a few minutes into the storm that the Weather Witch decided to dispel it, figuring that the climate wouldn't be too hurt by it. It was to her surprise that as soon as her vision wasn't clouded anymore, there was a small mound of snow that she realized was an igloo.<p>

Storm clapped thunder, signaling the young X-Men, and chuckled when there was a resounding louder clap. Ava and her cockiness were always a laugh for her.

"Xavier, I think I've found the girl. Send my location to the children and help them get to me," explained Storm to Xavier through her thoughts. "I may need Logan's and their help, so please guide them."

Xavier signaled with his mind that he did as she said, and then started to prep the jet. Anything could happen at this moment, and they may have needed to be ready for a quick liftoff. Xavier kept his mind open for any sign of distress.

Storm landed from her flight a good distance away from the igloo. She was certain that it had to be her. Who else could it be? No one would have braved that storm, even if it hadn't lasted long, but the other villagers wouldn't have known that.

When she walked over to the igloo, she prepped herself for some kind of powerful reaction, and then said, "Hello? Is anybody there?"

As soon as she asked, a head popped out and revealed a girl with rosy cheeks and silver hair. At first, Storm wouldn't have thought anything unusual about the girl. But when the girl shrieked, everything changed.

Her ear suddenly burst with pain, and she suspected that her eardrum had burst. Blood pooled out, and she didn't know what to say. It took every ounce of control not to blast the girl to smithereens.

"Why'd you do that? I'm here to help you!" Storm tried, but the other girl was not happy.

"Shut up! I don't have anything to say to you!" As soon as the words left her mouth, Storm felt her lips seal shut, and upon inspecting her mouth, she discovered that her lips were no longer there.

_Charles, hurry! This girl needs guidance from you personally. Do not send the children!_ Storm tried with her thoughts. _Or Logan!_

The professor's message still rang out in Ava's mind, and she sighed. "The Prof. doesn't want us involved. The girl has this voice power that messes with the biology of living things. She basically removed Storm's mouth and busted her eardrum."

"Just like with the villagers," Kris said. "Well, the eardrum part anyway."

"I can't believe she did that to Storm! We gotta do something," Rivera said, but both Ava and Alex shook their heads.

"As much as I want to take revenge for what she did to Smoggy, answering with more mutant powers is not the best idea," said Ava.

"It's a lesson that we all need to learn," added Alex. "It's been drilled into my head so many times."

None of them wanted to sit back, but they were stuck in the village until further notice.

* * *

><p>It only took a few moments for Xavier to arrive at the place where Storm was lying, knocked unconscious by Dean's command. Xavier couldn't walk off the snowmobile, but he was certainly glad that Logan keeps one of these when he goes on his excursions. Xavier was just glad that it didn't have petals, and that he could strap himself in.<p>

He willed Storm to awaken, a facet of his powers over the conscious mind that he preferred to live without. Storm awoke with a start, her mind forced to full consciousness before she was ready. Xavier watched with silent concern that her mouth did indeed appear to be gone. Storm was made mute by the girl's powers, sealed quiet. He hoped that there was a way to fix it, but he wasn't sure. The woman just looked at him and asked, _Should I go with you?_

Xavier shook his head, leaving this job to do himself. "No, I don't. It would only freak her out more. I think I might be able to fend off her powers," he said, pointing to the earmuffs he had in his hands. "Maybe I can just telepathically speak to her."

Storm was not happy with him going at this alone. She tried to beg him to stay, but this was not the time. Xavier knew that if the girl could be reasoned with, it couldn't be done on a physical level. He had to do it, and even though he didn't like seeing Storm so upset, it was impossible for him to leave it alone. He knew that this girl was a Level Five, more powerful than any mutant on the planet. He hadn't told them, but he knew how instrumental this girl could be if not in the right hands.

"Go back to the Blackbird. If anything happens, I will send for you," he said, gravely watching her touch her lack of mouth in shock. Storm nodded and Xavier turned away.

The snowmobile sped off, rushing toward the direction of the girl's distraught thoughts. He could hear them from a mile away and pick them out from the many near her easily.

When he finally caught up to her, she was watching him carefully, expecting him to make some kind of move toward her. Everyone wanted Dean today, and she couldn't figure out why. Did they want her because they thought she was special somehow? Did this voice thing have something to do with it? She couldn't see why they would want something so dangerous. What was she, a weapon?"

"No," Xavier said as the snowmobile cut off, his earmuffs in place. "You aren't a weapon."

_How did you? _the girl thought/asked.

"I can read your thoughts, Dean. My name is Charles Xavier, Headmaster of the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters and founder of the X-Men." He could feel her immediately grow fearful, but he assured her mentally that he was not an enemy. "When I was your age, I discovered this gift of mine to peer into the minds of others. At first, I thought it was a curse, but I learned to control it over the years. You and I are mutants, Dean, people with an advanced X-Gene that grants us abilities that a human cannot possess. I understand what you are going through, and I merely want to help you learn to control your own gifts. I assure you that if you come with me, I can calm this struggle, perhaps even let you speak again without causing something in others to change. If you'd like to accept this offer."

He could feel her mentally going over it, not knowing what about him that made him trustful. He felt the distortions that had been made in her head about the X-Men, and with some careful prodding, he erased the influence this person had made on her.

The effects were immediate. She could only see the X-Men and the Institute as positive things, and although this over-stepped the ethical boundaries he had made over the years for himself, she was a Level Five. He needed her allegiance.

Adeana finally looked toward the man on the snowmobile and thought, _Why not? I'll need to discuss it with the Elder and my parents. _

"Good," Xavier said, "Of course." He signaled to Storm that all went well, and that he was headed back to the village. Ava and the others were glad to learn that they had a new recruit.

Dean's change as soon as she got into the village was instantaneous. She realized that she had somehow healed the people she had injured, and it made her happy. And made Xavier happy, as he realized that there would be a way to save Storm's mouth, or at least, he hoped.

* * *

><p>The farewells to her Elder and to her parents were difficult, especially since she couldn't speak or even cry. She wrote everything down on a note, explaining why she couldn't speak, and although they didn't believe her at first, she wrote on the note that she had no reason to lie. Xavier was there also to give her a helping hand, and soon enough, the farewells were over, and Adeana was heading toward a better life.<p>

When Dean got to the Blackbird, Storm was waiting at the helm, her eyes worried about the rest of her face. The others were watching in silence as the new mutant sat in front of Storm and said, "Please, heal what my voice has done."

In moments, the skin folded apart, recreating the mouth that Storm had lost. Immediately, Storm said, "Thank you!" and hugged the girl around the neck. "I was so scared and worried! Your gift is great and don't forget it."

Ava laughed. "Darn, just when I thought she would finally shut up."

Storm wasn't happy at first, but eventually, the entire group was laughing, even Dean. As she laughed, they all watched in awe as the area around the Blackbird burst into a grassy meadow, a few native flowering plants opening their buds.

* * *

><p>"You failed me, Mystique! She was a Level Five mutant, and you let Xavier have her!" yelled the menacing voice, as the blue-skinned mutant cowered in fear behind her desk.<p>

"I'm sorr-"

"Sorry doesn't get her back, Mystique!" the voice exclaimed, and all the metal in the room shook and clattered to the ground. "Don't fail me again."

* * *

><p><strong>How was this one? Did you like it? Please Review!<strong>


	6. Mutant Crush: Bliss in Motion

**Shout-Outs: To Sexxy Malfoy for creating Mandi and to All Knowing 1 for creating Jade.**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Mutant Crush:<strong>_  
><em><strong>Bliss in Motion<strong>_

"Dad, you're just going to have to realize that I am not the perfect little girl that you want."

The girl was on the verge of leaving the room, when her dad grabbed her arm quickly and decisively. She tried to struggle to make him let go, but her father's grip was firm and unyielding.

"Jade, please," he exclaimed. "You have to understand. Spending your nights vandalizing the streets with your gang is not going to get you anywhere in life."

"You want to know what else won't get me anywhere?" she exclaimed, her tone ice cold. "Having an overprotective father who shelters me from everything fun in life."

"Jade, those actions are sinful! It's a wonder that the Lord hasn't stricken you down in all of your blasphemous behavior!"

"Spare me please or kill me now," she said, sighing. "You're a hypocrite. I don't have any problem with it, but doesn't your little book have a problem with your weekend 'meetings' with that man Bill?"

His eyes widened with shock. "How did you-"

"I'm not an idiot, Dad. I've heard you talk about him, and I've seen how happy you are with him, and how unhappy you were with Mom," Jade said knowingly. "You can't fool me."

Her father sighed, but when he remembered why he was there, he reapplied the grip on her arm. "My personal life is not the point. You shouldn't be partying with those unruly friends of yours. I won't stand for it."

"Fine," she said sincerely. "Just don't bring religion into a matter that has absolutely no point in it." He gave a curt nod, letting go of her wrist. She headed up to the room without another word, keeping herself calm and quiet, all while scheming on how to sneak out.

When she finally thought her father had gone to bed, she headed toward her window and gently slid it open, keeping herself light on her feet as she descended the side of the house. She managed to get down with only a couple close calls and then headed toward the park only a few blocks away to where her friends were waiting.

"Hey, girl," greeting her friend Michelle, the undisputed leader of their little gang. She was a big-boned girl who could probably snap your neck in two if you crossed her, but she had a gentler side. "How are ya?"

She merely shrugged. "Dad's being a bigger ass than usual."

Brady, the only guy in their little merry band of four, was the classic definition of a preacher's son gone wild. "That sucks. Did you sneak out?"

Jade nodded. "Yeah, I knew I needed to get away from him, away from the house. I hate getting stuck indoors."

"Don't we all?" replied Rachel, a small girl with a big attitude. They say that she could give Chuck Norris a run for his money (assuming that he was a shorter, chubbier, ninety-year-old man, she could.)

"What's on the agenda tonight?" asked Jade. "I probably need to be home about four or so before the sheriff wakes up from his beauty nap."

"There's a party at the Nichols' place," said Brady. "We thought we would hit them up for all the liquor they're worth."

Jade merely shrugged, not really liking the idea of a party. Now, the alcohol, however, was a different story.

They hopped into the only car the group owned between the four people, Rachel's old mini-van. Sure, it stunk like baby vomit from Rachel's little sister and the people who owned it before her, but they didn't really smell it any more.

It was a short ride to Jordan and Steve Nichols' place, the wildest set of rich twins you'd ever meet. When they arrived, it was covered with teens of various ages, races, etc., all there to have the time of their lives. Plastic red cups were about the only thing that anyone could see.

The party was a blast, and sped by fast. Faster due to the amount of alcohol in Jade's system, as well as the amount of mindless fun they were all having. Beer pong, spin the bottle, and as many drinking games as you can think of were all at the party, and before long, the clock was reading five.

That sobered Jade up very quickly. She hurried toward her friends, all shit-faced and having a good time. It was obvious that none of them were well enough to drive, so she decided that she would walk home herself. It wouldn't take that long, she thought.

Around an hour of stumbling and bumbling later, she finally began to see her street sprawled out in front of her. Her house was about two down from where she was, and the front porch light was tearing through the morning twilight.

Deciding that the road would be smoother than the lack of sidewalk, Jade walked slowly and silently up the asphalt, not bothering to care where she was or what side of the road she was on.

She looked over to her house, and her dad was running toward her. In the split second she looked back, a huge eighteen-wheeler was barreling right toward her, probably going about sixty. She instinctively threw her arms up to brace herself, as if it would help, and prayed a very quick drunken prayer in her head.

That was when she realized that she wasn't dead. She opened the eyes she hadn't realized that she had closed, and the truck was moving slow. Very slow, and she might of expected that it was just really, REALLY great brakes, if her hands weren't glowing the same shining yellow color that was surrounding the wheels and cab of the truck.

Had she done that?

"Jade!" her father yelled as he ran as fast as possible and yanked her out of the way of the still slowly moving truck. As soon as she was out of the way, the glow faded out and the truck sped by, not even bothering to stop its journey. She might have thought that was rude, if she wasn't scared to death of what had just happened. It had sobered her completely, and she wondered if it was some kind of drunken hallucination.

Her father embraced her tightly, and she just fell into his soothing grasp, falling instantly to a deep sleep.

* * *

><p>The mansion was buzzing with the usual morning bathroom rush. Ava was hogging the mirror, as usual, and Rivera was trying her best to get her tripled self ready with an assortment of curling irons and hair rollers. Xavier thought it best that she should go to school as a set of triplets, (Rivera, Maya, and Charisma) in case something happened against her control, and for the most part, it was working, if you didn't count how hard it was to fit them all into a car.<p>

Dean was the only girl who couldn't really find her place.

"Are you all right, Dean?" asked Ava when she finally left the bathroom to see the girl with the brilliant auburn hair. "I know you don't like your hair when it's out of the cold, but I think it looks great. At least you're not stuck with the natural highlights."

The Inuit girl curled her hair between her fingers. She pulled out the small notepad that she always kept with her, and quickly wrote a reply. "It's not that. Xavier still won't let me go to school until he and I make some real progress. He doesn't want my lack of speech to be an inhibitor to my studies. I haven't made any real progress, and I feel crazy cooped inside."

Ava frowned sympathetically and slid down the wall to sit next to her. "I know what it's like to not have control. When I got here, storm clouds followed me and I had episodes every day on the hour where a lightning bolt would destroy something near me. The day I got here, I blew up the fountain outside. I'm still working on it, and I've made leaps and bounds from when I first moved here. Take it one day at a time, and I'm certain that something will happen in your favor soon. I promise." Ava looked at the clock at the end of the hall and frowned. "All right, I've got to gather up the others. We're going to be late if we don't get here soon. If you ever need to talk, I'm here for you."

Dean's nod was her reply of thanks and assent, and she watched as Ava hurried Rivera out of the bathroom, all three of the latter dressed in stylish clothes, accented by Ava's fashion advice.

Dean took a deep breath, looked at the clock, and headed down to the breakfast table in her pajamas. She wished that she could go back to the bathroom and get dressed up for her first day, but at this point, she had no idea how long it would be before she joined the rest.

* * *

><p>The taxi pulled up to the gate, and the girl signaled to the driver that this was fine. She didn't think it would be the best idea for the taxi driver to see the other mutants in action. She went around the trunk and grabbed her bags, paid the driver, and wished him well.<p>

"See you later!" she said happily, before heading up to the gate. She pressed the call button, and a British-sounding voice answered.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Charles! It's your good friend Mandi!" she said excitedly.

"Oh, I didn't expect you, Mandi," Xavier answered, and the gate swung open in response. She grabbed her heavy-laden bags and lugged them up the long driveway. She admired the beautiful mansion from afar, remembering it well from her childhood.

As she finally got to the door, a group of her soon-to-be fellow students were walking out. They seemed to be an oddly but well matched group. There was a set of black-haired, green-eyed triplets each dressed in fashionable clothes. And then there was a girl with mocha-colored hair with pinkish stripes and stunning grey eyes.

The two boys were cute, and both were staring at her. The first had very orange-colored hair and bright green eyes, obviously of Asian descent. And the last of the group was tall, lean, and had bright blond hair and deep blue eyes.

She giggled and said, "Hi! I'm betting that you are the students! The name's Mandi Masters, but you can call me Bliss! Empathy is my gift, what all can you do?"

The group took the time to introduce themselves, and she complimented them all in some way, from Ava's amaranth hair and matching top to Rivera's really cool powers (which were totally sweet if a bit strange), and from Alex's motorcycle jacket's colors to Kris's really unique hair and powers. By the end of the conversation, everyone was smiling at her, enjoying her company. It was when Ava's watch beeped that they remembered that they had school to go to, so the girls had to drag the boys away from her, and Mandi just smiled as they left.

The front door opened, revealing Xavier flanked by Ororo and Logan. Xavier smiled and hugged her. "Oh, it's been such a long time, Mandi. You remember Storm and Wolverine, correct?"

She nodded and shook both of their hands. "Of course I do. It's nice to see you again."

"Yes, it is. It's such a surprise," said Storm, looking at Mandi's bags. "Are you here to stay?"

"That's what I was planning on doing, if you'll have me," she said.

"Well, why would I refuse an old family friend?" Xavier asked and then gestured inside. "Let's go inside and get you settled in."

If the outside could beat the memories that she had of the place, the inside blew them all away. The place was gigantic, with tall ceilings and beautiful light fixtures. Every once in a while, a high tech camera broke the décor, but for the most part, they were disguised. The place was great!

"All right, let's get in my office and I will assign you a room and we can catch up," said Xavier, but when a girl with stunning red hair walked in the room, he gestured toward her. "Ah, Dean. Please, meet Mandi. You can call her Bliss if you'd prefer, but she'll be staying here as our newest student. Once I get Mandi settled in, we'll continue our session, all right?"

The silent girl nodded, and the new girl came up to her and shook her hand vigorously. "Hi! It's very nice to meet you!" It took her a second, a blank stare, before Mandi said, "You're sad. Is there anything you'd like to talk about?"

The girl shook her head, and Xavier smiled sympathetically. "Dean has the power to manipulate living things through her voice. More often than not, it happens in a negative way and I am helping her try to control the way that works."

"Well, that's a cool power," Mandi said. "I'll have to let you give me a demonstration sometime."

Dean merely nodded before leaving the room abruptly, feeling calm and somewhat sad.

"All right, let's get this done, and I will let you get settled in," Xavier explained, frowning concernedly in the direction of Dean. Mandi nodded excitedly, ready to set up her new room.

* * *

><p>Jade woke up to a small knock on the door of her tiny room. The light tore through her eyes and she quickly shut them again, groaning as she called her father into the room. He frowned at her hangover symptoms and sat a glass of water on the table next to her.<p>

"Do you know what happened?" he asked.

"I got drunk. And nearly got hit by a truck, but somehow, I stopped it," Jade mumbled, taking a sip and staring in disbelief at her hands.

"Have you ever done something like that before?" her father asked. "I'm not even sure what I'm saying. God must have had a hand in this. He saved you."

All she could do was shrug, but she had a large sneaking suspicion that it actually did come from her.

That was when the door bell rang, and he raised an eyebrow. "Don't think this doesn't mean that I've forgotten about your punishment. You're grounded for three weeks, no entertainment. You can read, but I have to approve of it. And yon won't be going ANYWHERE but school for the next six weeks," he explained and then realized that there was something he was missing. "Oh, and you're coming with me to church. No arguments."

The last part was the only part that made her groan. Her dad just grinned, excited that he had bothered her, before heading down to the front door to answer the stranger.

He opened the door and was greeted by a curvy woman wearing a gray business dress suit and glasses over her youthful face, the short brown hair giving her an intimidating look. "Hello, I'm Raven Darkholme. I know you don't know me, but I've heard a lot about your daughter Jade from her school's principal. He and I have been friends for years, and occasionally, he tells me about his most…'troubled' students." When his eyes widened, she cleared her throat. "I meant no offense; I just wanted to offer your daughter a place at my reform school. It's a very Christian-oriented facility that works as a sort of training center for Jade's unique gifts, all the while helping her become reacquainted with manners and other necessities that society requires from her."

She pulled out a brochure from her jacket pocket, and he looked over the front, which read "Bayville High: Reformation Academy for Young Christians." He skimmed through all the offered activities and courses, sounding much like a normal high school, but for reform students. Located in a small town in New York, it had a certain atmosphere that was very enticing.

"Well, where do I sign up?" he asked, laughing. "My daughter actually is upstairs in her room nursing a hangover right now. I'm obviously not doing anything right. Would you like to speak with her?"

She considered it a moment, and then shook her head. "No, sir. I'm actually late for my lunch date as is. If you could just call this number, I'm certain that we can get things set in stone. Thank you for your time."

"You're welcome. Thanks for the opportunity," he called back as she walked away toward the sleek black limo in the driveway.

"Any time," she called back, entering the limo and leaving in a hurry.

He took a deep breath, looking over the woman's card and the brochure again. This would benefit Jade in many ways. New York was very far away for this kind of thing, but he couldn't help but like the idea. She was a handful, plain and true. Maybe this could be an excuse for him to finally move to New York like he'd always wanted.

* * *

><p><strong>What do you think? Jade and Mandi are interesting characters, right? You can sort of see where this episode is going, huh? Did you enjoy it none-the-less?<strong>


	7. Mutant Crush: Empathic Momentum

_**Mutant Crush:**_  
><em><strong>Empathic Momentum<strong>_

"So this is Bayville, huh?" asked Jade to her dad, who was sitting at the helm of the rental car. "It's kind of nice. Those kids seem to be stuck in the 90's though. Look at what they are wearing!"

Her dad was a little confused. The signs outside just said, "Bayville High." The buildings were right, and the campus was still the same one as before, but it seemed different from the brochure that the principal had given him.

"All right, Jade," the man began, his voice stern. "I've talked with the principal and she is expecting you in the office right before school. Be respectful and she will respect you. This school runs things a little differently than normal, but I thank God every day that the opportunity was given to you." He reached into the backseat and pulled out a leather-bound Bible. "Here, you'll need this. I would walk you inside, but I've got to meet with a realtor about an apartment in Manhattan at ten. I love you, sweetie. The principal has information about where you will be staying, so please, listen. I will call you as soon as I get into the hotel later, maybe with good news about the house."

"Yeah, you too Dad," she muttered, grabbing the book with a frown on her face. She readied her backpack and stepped out of the car. She watched him drive off, not a single regret in her mind.

Jade stared down at the book in her hand for the longest time. The book that had fooled her father for the longest time, the one that had caused her lots of hardship.

Immediately, she chunked the book as far as she could. She felt a sudden burst of power and yellow energy flickered as the Bible suddenly sped up and darted at the wall of the building, crashing against it in a flurry of white pages.

Jade stared down at her glowing yellow hands in disbelief. She looked around in all directions, but no one seemed to have noticed, thankfully for her.

Figuring that her torture was just beginning, she headed into the school and tried not to think about why she was speeding things up and slowing things down. The office was right around the corner, and although it wasn't her style to care if she appeared before an authority figure on time, she figured it was a good distraction from the unexplained.

"Hello, Miss Rasle," said a voice, an edgy tinge to it. She looked up and saw the infamous Principal Darkholme, the woman that her father had met. "I see you are punctual. That's good if you are going to be working for me." The woman ushered Jade inside.

"Wait. Working for you? Why does that not sound like schoolwork?" Jade asked.

As soon as she sat down across from the woman's desk, she watched in horror as the principal's body suddenly shifted. Skin peeled back, hair changed color, even clothing changed completely. She was now sitting before a woman with blue skin, dark red hair, and a revealing white dress. "Because with your talents, it won't be schoolwork."

* * *

><p>"Whoa, check out the new girl!"<p>

"Damn, she is fine!"

"Fine? It's more like _smokin' hot!"_

Alex, knowing exactly who the other guys meant, tried to look away. He tried as hard as he could. But Mandi was on a whole new playing field, so different from other girls at the school. She was sweet, charming, kind, and overly-generous. She always had a smile on her face.

He turned and felt herself fall under Bliss's spell. It was instantaneous, like some kind of magnet in a sea of hormonal paper clips. Every guy in the hallway was glued to her very presence, even Alex. Mandi smiled brightly and someone across from him mock-fainted as she twirled her hair.

She walked right up to Alex, much to the other teenage males' chagrin, and grinned. "Hey, handsome. Want to walk me to class?"

He found himself speechless as her perfect face framed by her perfect blond hair shone like diamonds. He tried to speak, but it came out as a stutter.

"Alex!" someone yelled, a familiar voice. The voice was faint, but strong enough to cut through the deep fog that was Mandi's spell, working her way into Dynamo's psyche. He recognized it, the way the voice said his name with just a hint of command. He knew on the tip of his tongue who it was, but his mouth was lost in the current that only flowed toward Bliss.

"So, class?" Mandi asked again with a raised eyebrow. "Come on, it will be fun!"

"Alex!" said the familiar voice again. It was rough and domineering, but at the same time soft and inviting.

"Ava?" he finally gasped out. He looked around and saw Ava, flanked by Rivera and her two clones, calling over to him. Immediately, he walked over to the four girls and ignored Mandi completely.

Mandi, however, smirked. _Well, he's no fun. Already got himself a girl; I'm honestly surprised I didn't notice the pheromones flowing all around them before. Oh well, I guess that saves me the trouble of setting those two up._ She shrugged as she headed down the hall towards another conquest.

* * *

><p>Jade listened as Mystique droned on about how things worked at the school. At first, s had been freaked out, but things have been put into perspective for her when she learned about her own mutant powers. In fact, it was kind of cool.<p>

"I told your father than this was a Christian reform school," said the blue skinned woman, smirking as she thought about it. "He believes that you are going to be staying here, at the school."

"Well, where will I be staying?" Jade asked.

Mystique pulled out a photo from her desk and passed it to her. It was of a rackety-looking house that could have been nice with a little work. The sign outside It said, "Brotherhood of Bayville Boarding House."

"You will be staying here and will be joining a team of mutants. We're going to work hard together to train your powers and to crush Xavier, the leader of the X-Men."

"Okay," Jade said after a little thought. She was going to ask who the X-Men were but decided that it wasn't really worth it. She would find out eventually. "I'll do it. Anything to stay away from my annoying closeted Dad with a Bible Belt."

"Good," Mystique cooed. "We're going to do good things together, just you wait."

* * *

><p>"What do you think about Mandi?" asked Rivera, while sipping her milk at the lunch table.<p>

Ava was not happy with her, that much Rivera could tell. Echo wouldn't even need to see the glowing eyes or occasional sparks to know that Tempest was angry. "She's trying to twist and manipulate everyone at the school. Plus, her happy-go-lucky attitude is starting to chaff on my last nerve."

"Yeah, but still. She's pretty and-"

"She's not really that pretty," Ava interrupted, scowling. "I don't see why every guy at the school is so caught up in her web."

Rivera peered at her, suspicious of why Ava was really upset. But she let it go, and thought about Mandi. "Maybe it's part of her powers? Maybe she's like naturally attractive?" Her two clones added their input in her mind, seeing that this was most likely true.

At that moment, the girl in question walked into the cafeteria, and the two girls watched every male head turn toward Mandi.

"Speak of the devil," murmured Ava. "Naturally attractive is probably an understatement. Look at every guy in here!"

"Not going to lie," said Rivera, "that's an odd but useful power. Oh, and she's coming over here."

As soon as the empath sat at the table, she grinned. "Hey! How are ya?"

"Fine," Ava said rather coldly, before she remembered that Bliss could read her emotions. Mandi's eyebrow slowly rose as she felt the jealous intent from the storm manipulator.

"You okay there, Ava?" she asked, concerned.

"Yeah," Ava said quickly, taking short, calming breaths like Storm taught her. She was trying hard to keep her emotions in check, and Tempest was worried that Bliss might be able to read her restraint. "I'm fine."

Mandi shrugged and then grinned, taking a bite of her pizza. Ava looked around and it seemed as though the entire male population was planning the cheesy pick-up lines to try on the new girl. She took a deep breath and wondered why Danger Room sessions were so much easier than high school drama.

* * *

><p>The boarding house where she would be staying was as <em>awesome<em> in person as it was in the picture that Mystique had showed her: dark, dreary, and a complete wreck.

"Your realtor deserves to be fired," Jade muttered sarcastically, but Mystique (in principal form) put her hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Ah, it serves its purpose. Besides, I find it kind of charming."

"Yeah, I expected that kind of answer from a blue-skinned freak," Jade commented, and as soon as she did it, she wished she hadn't. Mystique gripped her shoulder as hard as possible for a woman with the sudden appearance of talons. This shape-shifting thing was starting to bug her.

"Watch it, girl. You don't want to be on my bad side," the woman said in an inhuman voice. Jade was afraid to turn around to see what kind of creepy thing the mutant had turned into.

Mystique returned to her "normal" principal form and guided the girl inside. And the inside was as bad as the outside, if not worse. Everything was in disarray. The walls used to be adorned with pictures of landscapes and other various things, but instead, only faded paint splotches were there. Furniture was broken or in complete disorganization. Filth seemed to spring up in various places, and Jade wondered why this place hadn't been condemned.

"Wow. Charming," Jade said stoically.

Mystique looked at her sternly, before being interrupted by a loud _CRASH_ in the next room. Jade's eyebrows rose as a girl with a Gothic sense of style stormed through the door, slamming the door open in disgust.

"I swear, Archie, you are the most annoying brat ever!" She said crossly, her blue tinted bangs swaying as she spoke. The temperature in the room seemed to rise a few degrees instantly.

"Oh, and yeah, you're a saint, Astoria!" countered a blond haired boy with a plain look as he rushed into the room, oblivious to Mystique and Jade's presence.

"Come on! You soaked my entire closet! What did I do to deserve you waltzing into my room and messing with my stuff?" As soon as she said it, Jade noticed how the Goth's clothes seemed to be dripping.

Archie snickered, ignoring the question. "It's a classic! I swear, it's the oldest trick in the book."

Astoria flared her nostrils at him, and immediately, a small ball of blue fire appeared just above her palm. With each angry breath, the flames flickered with heat, but Archie wasn't worried.

The boy pointed toward the hallway behind him, and water seemed to stream out from one of the doors, sink water if Jade had to guess. It gathered around him, swirling like a vortex of tiny droplets, daring the pyrokinetic to attack.

"ENOUGH!" Mystique yelled, stepping between the two nearly warring mutants. The shape-shifter's nasty glare was enough to make them call off their attacks. "I thought that you might solve this argument on your own, but like all the others, it escalated to idiotic levels. Why can't you two get along?"

Astoria scoffed. "Maybe if someone wasn't such an idiot."

"Maybe if someone wasn't such an easy target," countered Archie, and for a moment, Jade was certain that they would start to fight again.

Mystique rolled her eyes and gestured to me. "This is Jade Rasle, but I think Matrix would better suit her kind of powers. Jade, this is Archie and Astoria, otherwise known as Madidus and Spice, respectively."

Archie shrugged. "Yeah, good to meet you. I'm going to try not to destroy the other contents of Spice's room."

Astoria glared at him as he ascended the stairs. "Don't even dare." She turned back to Jade. "It's nice to meet you, but I've got to get upstairs and guard my other possessions. See you later."

The two mutants left the room, leaving Mystique and Jade alone. "Well, they'll grow on you. I'll be here after dinner later tonight. Find a room and make yourself at home."

And with that, the older woman left. Jade shrugged and plopped down on the rickety couch, half-expecting it to break underneath her.

* * *

><p>The Danger Room was going especially hard that night. It was the first time for the group to use the holographic simulations, and a jungle sprawled before them. The automated defenses were a collection of turrets sticking from tree trunks, tentacles disguised as vines, and robotic drones in the shape of apes.<p>

Ava looked over at her team, hiding in the shrubs. Their objective was to get to the other side of the jungle, but the defenses were pushing them back. Progress was at a standstill, and she couldn't find a way to push forward.

"We're getting killed out there, Tempest," Kris muttered, his breathing haggard. Orange sparks flew from his fingertips every time he breathed.

Ava knew he was right, but she couldn't think straight. Mandi was a little bewildered by everything, and Ava wished that the empath could be used as bait so they could get across.

"All right, Echo and Bliss will go first, trying to take out the vines, while Dynamo and Sparkplug will follow and cover the long distance targets. I'll cover the rear and mop up any messes."

"A little fog might be good cover," Mandi suggested, but Ava just growled at her. Fog, clouds, and rain weren't her strong suits, but she wasn't about to say that.

"Fog isn't going to affect a computer like it would a human," Alex explained, covering for her. "It would probably blind us more than it would the turrets." Mandi was about to add something, but Ava cut her off.

"Go!"

Rivera and Mandi came out from behind the cover of the holographic shrubs, and ran forward with as much gusto as the two could muster. Immediately, vines snaked out from the trees, trying to ensnare the two mutants. Rivera tried to swipe at the first plant, but it grabbed her around the waist and pulled her up nearly helplessly.

"Damn," she cursed, suddenly splitting into three with a flash of white light. The two clones popped up on the ground underneath the vine, and they both attacked the base of the vine with a flurry of limbs.

Mandi, on the other hand, was doing quite well. She managed to evade the first few, and then suddenly, to the other X-Men members' surprise, she moved her hands in the air and a chain of pink light appeared. She skillfully swirled it around and smacked away any vines that came near. She was about to help Rivera when the two Rivera copies managed to knock the mutant out of the vine's grasp and onto the ground below.

But that wasn't the end of their troubles. Immediately, an array of turrets popped out of the next line of trees and fired laser beams at the group, still trying to fight away the vines.

"I got 'em!" Alex yelled as he and Kris rushed forward. Alex countered the turrets with his own green blasts of energy, knocking out a few. Kris intercepted an oncoming beam with his body, and then redirected the energy in the form of a large orange blast, destroying a group of turrets to the left.

"Good one, guys!" Ava yelled as she regrouped with the rest. While they were celebrating, a flurry of vine movement caught them off-guard, nearly grabbing the entire group. Ava's eyes glowed and a blast of straight-line winds with as much force as she could muster collided with the group of vines, blowing them back to where they had come.

They were about to congratulate their leader when five ape-bots appeared, each one looking like a cross between a gorilla and a baboon. They rushed forward, dodging lightning and energy blasts, and then roared when the beasts reached the kids. Ava cursed as Kris and one of Rivera's clones was grabbed from behind, and the other three apes rushed forward.

Mandi swung her chain, wrapping one around the leg and taking it down without much of a struggle. Alex managed to blast another one into a tree before feeling the usual droopiness that came from using his powers too often. Rivera and Clone Number One used a few quick jabs to one of the apes and managed to knock it out before suffering too much damage. Rivera then flashed white and recalled her two clones to her body, surprising the ape-bot that had her. Amaranth lightning arced through the startled ape and it fell to the ground in a smoking heap.

Kris was still stuck in the last ape's grip, nothing he could do would break him free. He tried to ignore the crushing pain, and yelled, "Somebody blast it! I'll be okay!"

Ava and Alex pointed at the ape that had captured Kris. Amaranth lightning and emerald caloric energy melded together and struck the ape-bot with full force. Kris felt the power rush into him, his skin glowing a soft orange. The ape collapsed and Kris landed on one knee, an orange aura still gathered around him.

It only took a moment for him to find release for the power. He blasted the turret group that had sprung behind the group, destroying it with an arcing orange blast of borrowed power.

"C'mon! Let's go!" Avalon yelled, pointing to the clearing up ahead. They rushed through the trees, finally entering the end zone. The simulation ended, the holograms slowly dissipating to reveal the circular steel room.

* * *

><p>Dean had wanted to join the fight with every fiber of her being, but she knew what Xavier was thinking, even if she wasn't a telepath. Dean's powers did not work without a biology to manipulate, so the Danger Room was pointless for her. Sure, her powers could work on her own body to produce many effects, such as x-ray vision or enhanced hearing. But she couldn't use her voice without possibly damaging her friends, and she didn't want to risk that.<p>

Dean looked over to the professor, who was watching the session intently with Logan and Storm on either side of him. She mentally said, _Professor, what can I do as a substitute for the Danger Room?_

"I was actually thinking of private sessions with me. But they won't be physical activities. I'm going to be working with you on Anatomy and Physiology, and perhaps that can help you expand on your knowledge on what you can do with your powers," explained Xavier. "As well as help you control when your voice actually affects the physiology of others."

"And I'd like you to work in the medical bay," Storm added. "Your powers are very unique, and I would love to see you help our injuries, as you did mine. What do you think?"

Adeana smiled and grinned in compliance, just as the session ended. It only took a few moments for the others to join the others in the observation deck.

"Well done, all," greeted the professor. "That was a nice go, although Logan and I agree that it was a little choppy in places, and your group mechanics were a little varied. Mandi, I see your chain abilities have gotten better."

The newest member smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess so."

"How _were _you able to do that?" asked Kris. "The chain doesn't seem to be connected to empathy."

It was Xavier who answered. "Ah, but it does. You see, Bliss's powers work on a chemical level, and she can feel the different hormones that go through others when they are angry, sad, happy, et cetera. The chain is a sort of manipulation of her own pheromones." The group commented on how neat it was, or how uniquely it could be used. Ava was not as impressed, having already decided not to like the bubbly girl.

"It's definitely cool," Kris said, admiring the girl in front of him.

"Oh, don't worry," she said, smiling. "There are a couple other cool things I can do. Just watch and wait."

* * *

><p>The usual breakfast that Charles and Ororo shared seemed amiss. The professor was silent, not his regular self. Storm looked at him concernedly.<p>

"Are you all right, Professor?"

The comment broke Xavier's reverie. "Oh, sorry. Yes, I'm fine. I'm in a reflective mood, I suppose."

"May I ask what about?" Ororo asked, setting her coffee cup down.

"I am thinking about Mandi actually. She's doing very well since she's been here, and it reminded me of her grandfather. He and I were good friends, a normal human that trusted me with my secret gifts. And so I've been friends with his family ever since, and it's sort of put me in a sentimental kind of mood," explained Xavier.

"Well, then it's a good thing she's here then, right?" Storm suggested, and Xavier nodded with a smile.

"I suppose so," he admitted. "But there was something else. Another mutant was discovered using her powers recently, and she's already here in Bayville."

Storm's eyes widened. "That's odd. Should we try to recruit her as we have the others? Surely there would be a space at the Institute."

Xavier's expression grew grave. "I'm afraid she already has a team." Both Storm and Xavier shared a glance, knowing full well what that meant.

* * *

><p><em>RING!<em>

Kris finally understood the definition of _saved by the bell. _He packed away his things and was about to leave the room to go and meet up with Alex at the gym, but the teacher, Mr. Varner, called out to him. Behind him, a girl with straight dark brown hair and emerald green eyes was staring at him, wondering why his hair was so orange.

"Mr. Tanaka, I was hoping that you could show Miss Rasle around the school, maybe to her next class. I'll write you a pass."

Kris could barely hide his displeasure, but hey, maybe walking this cute girl to class could be a good thing? "Sure. No problem."

After introducing himself and getting a pass from the teacher, Kris escorted the girl from her room.

"So where are you from?" he asked as he took her schedule and figured out where her next class was.

"Atlanta," she said in a slightly Southern voice. "Do all the Japanese have orange hair?"

Kris grinned, not having heard that one before. "No, I don't think so. I'm a special case."

She seemed to fixate her attention on the word _special_, but left it alone after a moment. "So is there anywhere cool in this dump?"

"Well, if you stick around me, I'm sure it won't be that bad," Kris said, and as soon as he said it, he wanted to slap himself for how cheesy it sounded. Nevertheless, Jade grinned at the comment.

Not ten feet away, peeking around a corner, was a certain empath. She raised an eyebrow and then smirked when she saw that it was Kris she was sensing. Kris and a girl she didn't know.

Making sure no one was watching, she rubbed her hands together, a pink cloud of glowing dust gathering in her palms. As soon as they were near enough, she tossed the cloud into the air like a handful of flour. As soon as Jade and Kris stepped through it, they began to cough and bat their eyes. Bliss stepped behind the nearest wall, hiding herself as she smiled happily. The growing emotions of the two mutants crept against her mind.

"What was that?" asked Jade as she wiped her eyes. She and Kris locked eyes, and Mandi knew the deed was done.

Bliss listened to the two infatuated, giggling teenagers, and she walked away in triumph.

* * *

><p>"Has anybody seen Kris?" asked Alex to the lunch table, where Ava, Rivera's triplets, and Mandi were waiting. Mandi's eyes flashed when he mentioned Kris, but the interest faded after a moment. "He usually meets me before lunch, and I can't find him."<p>

Ava smirked and pointed to a table on the far side of the cafeteria, where Kris and another girl were sitting very closely together, neither one able to stop laughing. "They've been sitting like that all lunch period long. I think it's cute."

Rivera shrugged. "It doesn't really matter to me if he has a girlfriend or not, but don't you think it's a little weird? It seems like they've gotten REALLY close already."

"Yeah, if their legs were any closer together, I'd classify it as sex," Alex muttered, inciting a giggle from the others.

"Should we have them come and sit with us?" asked Rivera, but Mandi shook her head.

"No, leave them be. I think they'd make a great couple, so let's leave them be," Mandi said with a smile, and Ava scowled when the guys in the room seemed to turn their heads, even Alex.

"If you say so," Rivera said with a bite to her burger, still wondering why Kris and the new girl were so close.

* * *

><p>As soon as the last bell rang, Kris hurried out of the classroom, ready to meet the girl who was always on his mind. He only thought about her, about her smile, about her laugh. He knew he loved her, and no part of him questioned it. He knew with his head and his heart that Jade and Kris were meant to be together. Forever.<p>

As soon as Jade met him, they interlocked their fingers and smiled. They hadn't kissed yet, although Kris wanted to so bad. He expressed his desire, but Jade shook her head.

"Not yet! Let's go! I've got a place to show you!" Jade said ecstatically, pulling him toward the front lawn and into the city.

"Wait! Kris!" yelled the voice of Alex, but Kris didn't pay him any attention. It wasn't until Alex caught up with him that he even acknowledged him.

"Kris, I just wanted to say congratu-"

"Leave Jade and me alone! You just want her for yourself!" Kris yelled, startling Alex completely.

"No, I wasn't trying to," Alex said, running after them. Jade turned around and scowled at him, waving her glowing yellow hand. Suddenly, Alex's body began to glow a slight yellow color, barely noticeable, and he felt himself slowing down involuntarily. It progressed to the point where his body moved so slowly he thought he'd never get out of his one step.

_She's a mutant? _He tried to shake off the affects of her slowdown, but nothing he did worked. He continued to move so slowly it hurt, and he couldn't even tell his leg to stop.

* * *

><p>Mandi was just biding her time, searching for her next match-up, when she saw something peculiar. It was Alex, who seemed to be running in slow motion… REALLY slow motion. <em>Why in the world would he be doing that? <em>

"Alex? What are you doing?" she asked, wandering over to him. When he didn't respond immediately, she touched his shoulder and he immediately snapped out of it, rushing forward a few more steps before stopping.

"That girl that Kris likes! She's a mutant, I think. She slowed me down somehow, waved her hand and I was suddenly stuck like I was trying to move through molasses!" explained Alex. "And not the good flavored kind!"

Mandi's eyes widened and she searched her surroundings for a sign of the couple. It had only happened once before, but when two mutants got together under the influence of her powers, they grew so closely together that they lost sight of anyone else but their significant other. And they didn't hesitate to use their powers, and they saw anyone trying to approach them together as a threat.

Okay, Mandi admitted. There were some bugs with her control, but how was she supposed to know that the other girl was a mutant?

"This isn't good," Mandi said gravely, all of her cheeriness fading. "We've got to go get the others. This is going to blow up fast."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked, following her as she headed toward the parking lot, where she hoped to meet Ava and the other X-Men. She had a feeling that they were needed.

"Part of my powers allows me to make people fall for each other. It usually happens over time, but when two mutants are exposed, bad things happen. And they're going to be hostile, so I think we should be prepared for a fight," explained Mandi.

"Why in the world would you meddle like that? It shouldn't be any of your business," he answered accusingly.

She sighed. "I don't know really, but it makes me happy when others are happy. Some people need a boost sometimes, a push in the right direction."

"Funny," muttered Alex. "I didn't realize you were Cupid's little sister."

Ava scowled at the girl who had caused this mess. Mandi used to be all smiles, all cheers. But now, she was harried and looked exhausted. Ava thought the look suited her.

"All right, we need to think. Where could they have gone?" asked Ava, but Rivera just took out her phone.

"Maybe if we tell Xavier, he can find them. They are mutants, so Cerebro should work," she explained, but Mandi shook her head frantically.

"No! Please don't tell Xavier! I don't want him to be mad at me!"

"Sorry, Bliss, or should we call you 'Meddler'?" Ava said matter-of-factly. "You lost the ability to decide things like that. C'mon, you guys. Rivera, call him on the way."

"Professor, something's happened with Bliss's powers," Rivera started, explaining the situation. "Can you find them? All right, call me if you find anything." She shut the phone as the group moved toward the heart of the city, keeping a lookout for the two mutants. There was no sign of them amongst the city pedestrians and commuters, but there was still much city to cover. "He said he would call."

"So you can reverse this, right?" asked Alex. "I'm not sure I could handle the hostile mushiness for long."

Mandi considered it for a moment and then nodded uneasily. "I think so. I've had to do it once before, but there are no guarantees."

Alex _tsked_. "Damn, I guess you aren't Wal-Mart after all."

The others rolled their eyes at the joke. They considered splitting up to cover more ground, but Ava shook her head, thinking it to be smarter to stick together until Xavier could locate them.

Finally, Rivera's phone rang and she answered it quickly. The conversation was swift, but when she closed the phone, she pointed towards the east side of town. "They're at Lookout Point! Let's go!"

* * *

><p>Lookout Point had a great view of the ocean, and the sunrise on the bay was a sight that must be seen. However, Kris wasn't focused on the rolling waves and pleasant skies. The only thing in the world that mattered to him was the cute girl sitting next to him.<p>

Jade was a mutant of the most beautiful kind. Remarkable powers, an amazing face, and wonderful eyes. All of his thoughts, emotions, and dreams were now stuck on her, every crevice of his mind wrapped around the girl.

And Jade was feeling the same way about Kris. She loved his abnormally orange hair, bright green eyes, and a wide smile. Her only focus was pleasing him, and that was good enough for her.

"Okay, so now can we kiss?" asked Kris impatiently.

Jade tilted her head and thought for a moment. "Maybe. If you'll run away with me."

Part of him, a part so deep down he might not have even felt it, screamed, "What?" But it was overshadowed by Jade, the only part of his life that mattered now.

"Of course I will! We'll be there for each other. Forever!" he said happily, now excited for the road. "But how's about that kiss?"

She grinned and they leaned toward each other.

"STOP!" yelled a female voice, and immediately, he felt his excitement and euphoria die down. The kiss was broken up by the appearance of Mandi, Ava, Alex, and Rivera, the empath staring at him in concentration.

"Leave us be!" Kris yelled, his hands sparking. He looked toward Jade and thought about the time that he had supercharged Alex, and as he reached for her, a sudden wind blast knocked them both apart from each other.

"Don't let them touch!" Ava warned to the others. "Keep them apart so they can't help each other, while Bliss works on reversing the spell!"

"C'mon Jade! I can guard you!" Kris yelled, distraught that his friends were about to hurt their relationship.

Rivera rushed forward at Jade, hoping to disable her with a well-placed roundhouse kick. As soon as she spun to kick, the mutant opposite her waved her glowing hand and Rivera found herself caught in some kind of slowdown. Her mind still worked as fast as normal, but her body was not responding to anything. She tried the only thing she could do, and focused on splitting into three. Immediately, a white flash erupted from her body, and her two clones popped out, unaffected by the slow spell. They rushed forward and tried to knock out the girl, but she waved her hand again as Rivera Two charged, and to everyone's surprise, the clone sped up almost to a blur and nearly fell off the cliff.

"She can speed things up too!" Rivera warned as the spell wore off, and she neared the mutant again, this time with caution.

Kris tried to run over to help his girl, but both Alex and Ava shot blasts of energy, one caloric and one electric. They collided with the earth in front of the Asian mutant, making him flinch. He scowled at them, but when he tried to continue his approach, Mandi suddenly had him in the wraps of her pink chain of pheromones.

"I wouldn't breathe if I were you," Mandi snickered, knowing he had already inhaled it. "Those pheromones are enough to make you feel rather intoxicated." Sure enough, his mind seemed to escalate into HappyLand, a dopey expression on his face.

"What have you done to my boyfriend?" yelled Jade, staring in horror at the boy wrapped in chains.

"Will that cure him?" asked Ava, firing a lightning bolt into the group of Rivera clones trying to fight off the girl who just kept speeding them up and slowing them down.

"No, Tempest. But I'm working on it," she said, her mind focused on the emotions of the mutant couple. She was trying to slowly draw out the chemicals that she had placed in their bodies, but with all the chaos, it was harder than necessary.

"Dynamo, give me a hand!" Rivera yelled. "She can only affect one area at a time, so maybe if I distract her, you can blast her into oblivion!"

Alex nodded and he and Ava focused their attention on Rivera's signal. The cloning girl commanded her triplets with a mental command, keeping them in steady and cautious. Jade was hysterical now, worried for Kris's well-being, and her powers were becoming more wild in the process. Since she could only use her powers on one object at a time, her focus was randomly shifting from triplet to triplet, speeding and slowing and being rather annoying, if Rivera could attest to it.

Rivera made her move, doing a triple charge from three directions. Jade managed to slow the first one, speed the second so that it passed her by, but the third got her right as she was about to work her powers. Rivera latched onto the girl's back and then yelled to the others. "Now!"

Alex raised his hands and fired a green blast, but before it could hit, Jade flinched and slowed the attack to slower than snail-pace.

But that was what Alex wanted to happen. A second blast from the other hand broke through her defense and collided with her, knocking her and Rivera to the ground, the former unconscious.

"Thank God that's over," Rivera muttered, crawling out of the heap and returning to her one body with a white light.

Meanwhile, Mandi was concentrating, imagining the faux feelings of love and affection her powers made. Kris was slowly losing the bits and pieces of emotion; each time Mandi made a landmark, a pink puff of dust would escape from his nostrils, but he was too out there mentally to care.

"Wow," Ava muttered. "Fairy dust? What's next, butterfly wings?" Rivera and Alex snickered, but Mandi was too busy to comment.

After what seemed like hours, Mandi finally sighed as the last cloud of pheromones left Kris's nose, and by the end of it, the boy was sleeping. She was visibly exhausted, and she hadn't even gotten to Jade yet.

"Geez, how much longer?" Alex said impatiently, his stomach grumbling. "Anybody know of a place to eat around here?"

"I think there's a pizzeria a few blocks away," Rivera said, and Alex nodded, already deciding that he was going there after this.

Jade's body tossed and turned while the dust evaporated away, and Ava feared that she would wake up. And then there would be another fight on their hands.

As the time passed, they watched as Mandi's eyes grew heavy and her breathing ragged. She was struggling, and rather than the occasional stream of dust, it only came up in sputters like a car exhaust pipe.

"You okay?" Alex asked, truly sincere this time.

Mandi felt her head begin to swim. Her concentration faltered, and as soon as she shut her heavy eyes, she was asleep.

Ava merely sighed, both concerned for Kris and Jade, and annoyed that Mandi had fallen asleep. "Okay, now we have three unconscious bodies to carry?"

"Yeah, apparently. Do you think she finished undoing her spell?" Alex asked.

None of them had an answer. It took longer to take away the spell on Kris than it would have on Jade if she had finished, so they hoped that wasn't a bad sign.

* * *

><p>The three hospital beds were occupied in the medical bay. It had already been two days since the incident, but they were still unconscious. Xavier sat at Mandi's bedside, worried about the girl he knew so well. Her health was bugging him, and the overexertion of mutant abilities was a tough issue to repair.<p>

But more concerning to him was the truth of what had happened. He tried to see both sides of the argument, but no matter what way he tried to spin it, Mandi was wrong to meddle in peoples' lives for gratification. And things like this come back to bite in the ass.

Suddenly, he heard a positive beep on the monitors. He looked over and Mandi was stirring, slowly coming awake.

"Hello, Mandi. How are you feeling?" asked Xavier when he thought she would be able to answer him clearly.

"Bad," she said groggily. "Channeling all that negative emotion to counteract the dose of pheromones I gave them has literally had a negative effect on me. How are they?"

"Still asleep, as you can see," explained Xavier.

"Ah, all right," she said, and then her face frowned. "I don't think I finished, Professor. With Jade, I mean."

The professor shook his head. "Don't worry. I have already tried to influence her to forget about him, so it should be all right."

Her eyes widened. "No, Professor! My powers will still be in affect whether they remember her or not. She's going to b-"

He put his fingers to his lips and _sshhed._ "It's quite all right, I know I can handle it. Now, when are you planning on leaving?"

Her eyes widened. "I sometimes forget you are a telepath. I was actually hoping to leave ASAP. My brother needs in a roommate in his apartment near Stanford, and I'm going to go and stay with him and keep up with my studies, and help him keep his."

He frowned. "But why, Mandi? You'd be a great addition to the team, and-"

"No, Professor. I'm not needed here. The others, especially Ava, don't trust me. And now who knows how Kris will react when he wakes up? The best decision is for me to leave, but I promise that I will keep in touch."

The telepath laced his fingers and smiled. "Of course. I can respect that, but I promise you, they will not hold a grudge."

"We're teenagers, Professor. Of course they will," she said, laughing. "I've made up my mind and I am sticking to it."

He smiled. "Well, if it's what you want, then I can't deny it to you. Now, why don't you go ahead and rest, and we'll think about this in the morning, all right?"

Mandi Masters nodded and very quickly drifted off again, leaving Xavier alone with his thoughts.

* * *

><p>When Kris finally awoke, it was dark in the medical bay, only lit up by the monitors showing his vitals. Luckily, they were fine, but he was confused as to why he was there. He really had no idea what happened.<p>

He looked across from him and then gasped at the sight of the girl on a gurney opposite his own. She was sitting up, staring at him excitedly. It was the fuzzy memories that rushed through his head that surprised him, and he wondered where those feelings came from. As far as he could tell, he had no idea who the girl was.

"Hey, Kris, how are you?" said the girl expectantly as she rushed over to his bedside and clamped onto his hand.

"Um, I don't know," he muttered. "I think so, but-"

"That's good. I was almost scared for a minute there." She leaned over and gave him a warm hug, and he awkwardly hugged back.

"Why are you hugging me?" he asked in a whisper.

"Well, I'm just glad that you're okay, Kris. Don't be dense."

"Wait, how do you know my name? Are you my friend or something?"

"Well, I thought that we were more than that. Now I'm not so sure," she said, temper rising. "Is this some kind of sick joke, because it really isn't funny."

"Um, I honestly have no idea who you are," Kris finally answered, and the impact of the statement practically knocked the breath out of her.

"But I'm Jade, Kris! Your girlfriend!" she said, but he shook his head sadly.

"I'm sorry," he deadpanned, not thinking of anything else to say.

She clamped down her jaw. "Oh, you are going to remember me! Don't you remember the time at the cliff, and the time in class where we put our gum in the exact same place, or the time-"

His expression of concern and emptiness was enough answer for her. She steeled herself and took a deep breath.

"Fine. If you don't want to remember me then forget it!" she said, completely storming away. Kris thought it was pretty obvious that her emotions were still haywire. As soon as the door slammed shut behind her, he gulped.

"I don't think she's the kind of girl I want mad at me. This could be bad. Horribly, horribly, bad."

* * *

><p><strong>So how was it? Let me know in a review!<strong>


	8. Speed and Spyke: Stretch and Snipe

**Shout-Outs: To thatasiankid for creating Tristan! He's a great OC!**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Speed and Spyke:<strong>_  
><em><strong>Stretch and Snipe<strong>_

_The addition of magnesium to the equation would balance the ionic charge of the fluoride, but without maximizing the polarity potential, the compound will never take form… _

The boy hurriedly scrawled down his notes, ignoring his messy handwriting. As far as he knew, he had never had a problem with reading his own manuscript, and you can forget cursive completely. His teachers had always scolded him on it, back when they cared what he thought. It only took them a few months to realize that nothing they said would ever challenge him.

They had branded him a "genius" but he didn't really care for titles. All he cared about was his own thoughts, since no one else could keep up with his brain anyway.

He tried not to bother anyone, but the bullying didn't quit. He tried to be amicable and honor-worthy, but no one ever gave him the time of day. And that was probably how it should be, the more he thought about it.

"Grant! Get down here! We're going to be late!" his father yelled, and the boy sighed. He put away his notes and grabbed his gear, and then joined his father downstairs.

Dad was already dressed in his climbing uniform, and the only thing missing from it was the large backpack on his back, but the boy smirked when he realized the bag was already in the jeep.

"C'mon, Grant, we're gonna be late if you don't hustle," the man said, but the boy just groaned.

"Dad, can I not just skip the trip this year? I have loads of research to do, and if my calculations are not correct, I'll never have the right results."

His father sighed and looked at his watch. "What class is the project for?"

Grant peered at him and gestured for the upstairs. "It's not for a project, it's for me."

"Wrong answer, kiddo," the man said, grinning. "You can take a break from all that math and science for one outing with your dad. We only get to do this once a year, and we've been doing it every year since Jason-"

He cut himself off, wincing at the memory. Grant's older brother Jason does not have the best relationship with his dad, and they haven't spoken in a while. Grant gets an e-mail from time to time, but the two won't even talk to each other.

Grant knew why he was always dragged along on this trip once a year. It was something that he and Jason did every year, and maybe it wasn't right for his father to do it, but Grant was the cheap replacement.

"What time do we leave?" Grant asked, putting on a grin.

"Right now, of course!" exclaimed his father, smiling. "Let's get going, son."

They deposited their materials in the jeep, and before Grant could calculate the time of arrival, they were off.

* * *

><p>He didn't expect this. He didn't expect this at all.<p>

He was gagged and bound to a chair by his hands and feet, and he could barely struggle. He had just awoken from a strange daze, probably knock-out gas, if he was lucky. His disoriented state left his surroundings hazy, but he could definitely see the insignia on the far wall of the dim room: an octopus with eight tentacles inscribed in a circle.

Awesome. They were after him. Life is just _freaking_ great.

The only light in the tiny room came from a bright lamp pointed directly at his face. He could only look up at the light for a moment before it became like a second sun.

"Oh, Arsenal, you're awake," said a sultry voice. "I see that there were no bruises after the beating my agents gave you." He was about to comment, but he was unable to speak with the gag in his mouth. It sounded more like a grunt.

The woman stepped into view, and if he lacked self control, he might have thought she was hot. She was a tall, curvy woman wearing a tight dark-green jumpsuit with an overcoat. Her green-black hair was unusual but fit her personality completely. Her face was lined with high cheekbones and she looked about as menacing as a snake. He half-expected her to reach out and strike her with venomous fangs.

"Ah, what was that?" the woman said, leaning forward and taking out the gag.

"I said that you have about as much control over this organization as that loser Omega Red," the boy, Arsenal, countered. He tried to fire an energy blast to break free, but he needed to reload. Literally.

The woman laughed. "Ah, but you see, Hawkins, I've gained a bit of control recently. Meet the new Supreme."

The boy's eyes widened and he wondered what happened to the old Supreme. It was then that he knew what had happened, and her snide face just proved it. "Viper, what have you done with him?"

Her eyebrow rose. "That's Supreme Hydra to you, thank you very much. Remember your place, boy!"

He gulped. She could be very intimidating. "So what am I here for?" He asked. "I think I ought to know."

The woman smirked, and then pressed a button on a remote in her hand. The insignia in front of him slid open at the middle to reveal a screen. It glowed to life at the press of another button, and the image of a mansion suddenly appeared. It flickered through images of certain people, such as a bald man in a wheelchair named Xavier, and a burly man with a lot of hair named Wolverine.

"This is the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters, located in Bayville, New York. According to my contacts, he's been recruiting mutants recently. Several, in fact."

"So I'm playing spy?" he asked. "That's not exactly my game, Vip-I mean, Supreme Hydra. I prefer the 'quick and dead' routine."

She shook her head. "As much fun as it would be for you to eliminate certain enemies for me, I think not. Just wait." Viper flicked through another slideshow, this one featuring a run-down home that deserved to be condemned, and a blue-skinned mutant woman who could give Viper a run for her money in the intimidation department.

"It turns out that a long-time enemy of HYDRA has had Mystique building a team of mutants for a certain unknown reason. I'd like you to infiltrate this 'Brotherhood' and learn what you can about why these two teams seem to be building mutant rosters," Viper finished, pressing a button to conceal the screen again.

"So what was the point of showing the first slideshow, exactly?" he asked. "And why did you feel the need to kidnap me? I would have probably done it if you had asked."

"Well, I'd like you to stir up as much trouble as you can with Xavier. And the measures to which I meant to get you here were necessary to ensure your cooperation." She leaned in, getting within centimeters of his face. "And if you know what is good for you, you'll listen to my every command."

He scowled at her, wishing once more that he knew where his father went.

* * *

><p>If anyone came up to Grant and asked him, "Hey, what's your favorite activity?", it would definitely NOT be rock climbing. The whole idea of it was quite unnerving, and even with all the necessary equipment, it was just too physical for him. That kind of activity was not his favorite.<p>

He'd much rather be at home studying, but alas, he felt like he had to do it. Part of him enjoyed the camaraderie with his father, and it was something that he could like. However, the actual act of finding the handholds and footholds was a difficult task, one that required a lot of endurance and patience, as well as a general knowledge of climbing techniques. Sure, he knew those, but it was applying them that made things tougher.

"Are you all right down there?" his dad asked, several feet above him.

They were tethered by a simple cord, the only aid they were using; books called that the tie-in method, a dangerous technique if one isn't careful. The rest of the journey was to be done with only the hands and feet. They were just lucky that they had climbed this particular cliff-face before.

"Yeah, I guess," Grant said, shuffling his hands along a crevice for a good hold. As he did so, he noticed that his fingers were acting oddly, almost molding into the formation of the crack. He grabbed hold and took a sip of water from the canteen around his neck to fight the heat exhaustion that was obviously starting to affect his mind."You?"

"Oh, I've never been better! I'm not as young as I used to be, so it's refreshing to know I can still handle this every year, you know?" He said, plowing on ahead confidently.

They continued on, Grant staying within a few paces from his father. Rock climbing was best done when a knowledgeable climber stays in the lead and keeps the rest in check.

At one point, about halfway to the first outcropping-almost fifty yards up the cliff-Grant was baffled when he pulled his leg up and the limb didn't move from the spot. But it felt like he did, and either his mind was being tricked, or his leg was longer than before. He shook it, and it snapped back into place, and then wondered if he shouldn't just go back down. Obviously, his knee joint was hyper-extending or something, because he just wasn't right.

"Hey, Dad, I'm not feeling so good," Grant said, knowing that it was never good to end the climb before the destination. "Something's happening, something I don't understand at all."

His father leaned down to look at him and then grinned. "Did you finally hit puberty, son? I was wondering when it was coming."

"Dad, I'm taller than you! I've already gone through that!" he countered, not amused. "Seriously though, I think I need to get down."

His dad sighed, and then looked up to their destination. "Look, there's a spot where we can rest for a bit up ahead. Can you make it?"

Grant looked ahead, knowing he had a good twenty-five more yards, and nodded. The climb only went on for about five more minutes before disaster struck.

The man in the lead placed his hand on a faulty rock, almost to the top, when the rock snapped from the cliff-face. He swung dangerously, crying out, before finally losing his grip. His dad shot past him like a meteor, and Grant instinctively grabbed for the rock wall and held on for dear life. He wasn't about to die here.

But he still fell. His dad, tethered to him by that cord, yanked Grant around the mid-drift when it reached tautness, and the two climbers were sent plunging toward their deaths.

He reached up and clamped his eyes shut, hoping for a miracle.

* * *

><p>School was difficult, especially for Kris. Most people would boil it down to not knowing the material or staying up too late.<p>

So having a stalker wasn't usually on the list.

At first, he didn't notice it. It wasn't until Alex pointed it out to him that he finally caught on. He may have unintentionally pissed her off, but Jade apparently didn't care.

The black-haired girl was still under the residual effects of Mandi's spell. When he had noticed her tailing him through the halls, he called her and she explained to him that the effects may never wear off.

Always a plus in the life of an X-Man.

Kris had actually pondered ever since the incident if he should go ahead and date her, if the timing was ever right. She was a cute girl with a petite look, and other than a slight acne problem and the obsessive behavior, she'd be a really nice catch.

For someone who didn't mind that she was under a love spell that disoriented her, that is.

"She's actually tame compared to how you and her both were that day," Alex said. "I guess Mandi's removal worked a little."

"Yeah, you guys had the honey-moon phase times a billion," Rivera added. "It was pretty hilarious, when I look back on it. At the time, we were worried that you'd never get over it, until you-." She had stopped herself and Ava had looked at her with a warning glance.

"Until I what?"

The three of them glanced at each other first, and then back at him. "Well, she told us that the last time she had used her powers on two mutants, they grew so madly in 'love' that they pulled a Romeo and Juliet. After a wildfire they started that wiped out a forest," explained Alex. "So, we weren't going to tell you just so you wouldn't freak out."

He frowned, not because they had kept it from him but because of the situation that Jade was in. "If she wasn't completely wiped from the spell, does that mean that she could still share those same…symptoms?"

No one knew what to say to that. The bell rang conveniently, leaving them to pack away their lunch and head to class. Kris glanced over his shoulder as he left the lunchroom and thought he saw a mane of familiar black hair.

* * *

><p>She had cleared her throat so many times it wasn't funny, but even she knew she was stalling. Xavier and Ororo (out of earshot) watched on from the other room through a window as she was bent over the lab table, occupied by a baby bird that had fallen from its nest and broken its wing.<p>

_Professor, are you sure you want me to do this? I don't think I can._

"I promise you, Dean," the professor said into the intercom. "You will do perfectly fine. Your voice is a gift, and unless you learn to control the good and the bad aspects, you'll never gain full mastery over them. I know what it is like to feel like you don't have control, as does Storm. We have been where you are, and we made it out the other end perfectly okay."

_So what do you want me to do, exactly? Heal it? _

"Be creative. Like I said, think about the negative aspects of your powers, as well as the positive," Xavier said. "This is an exercise completely under _your_ control."

She nodded, wanting to sigh but remembering how the sound had caused the lungs to contract with the villagers back home. She controlled her breathing, keeping her emotions calm so they would not muddle the effects of her voice.

That's when she had an idea. The wing was broken, and even if she made the bones mend-assuming that she could- the little bird would feel the pain.

A slight fluster in her voice, Dean said, "Nullify the effects of pain on the right wing appendage." Wondering if it had worked, she took a tiny hooked tool from her tray and poked the right wing. To her pleasant surprise, the bird did not respond to the stimulus. She looked at the x-rays that Storm had run earlier, examining the bone structure. She pictured the bones clearly melding in her mind, and then described the wing bones sealing over and slowly growing to get the wing under check.

This time, it didn't work.

_Why didn't anything happen, Xavier?_

"Perhaps you were not specific enough," Xavier hypothesized. He turned to Storm. "Do you think we may have a book on bird anatomy? Maybe she can heal them if she knows their names."

Storm considered it for a moment. "I don't know. I might be able to print something off of the computer though. I'll go check on that really quickly."

_Professor, you think the names will make a difference?_

"Possibly. Your powers are more primal without words, more instinctive. If you are clear and concise with your meaning, you should potentially be able to manipulate the biology of any living thing in any way. Maybe the reason why it doesn't work now is that you are trying to use the words you relate to in your own arms or appendages, and the wings of a bird are different. Therefore, with your type of power, you need a wide knowledge of anatomical and biological terms to work with."

_I guess doctor or nurse is locked into place now, huh?_

"You should be able to do anything you want, trust me. Hopefully, when you are ready to step into the real world, I'll have helped you through this transitive stage of your powers, and perhaps your voice will be available to you in the near future."

She smiled with hope. _Thanks, Professor._

* * *

><p>Grant's eyes were so tightly shut that he didn't know what had happened when he was suddenly yanked about the shoulders and shot up again. Was this death? Was he wrong about the afterlife?<p>

He opened his eyes quickly and when he looked up, something impossible had happened. His arms had stretched to impossible lengths and wrapped around the nearest overhang, his fingers latched around it. He was so freaked about falling off the cliff that he hadn't felt the rocky surface gripping into his bare, impossibly long arms, but he felt it now.

They stabilized after the "bungee jump of sorts," and his dad looked up toward him. "What?"

"I don't know, Dad, and I have no idea how to get down at all," Grant answered, his voice hoarse and his heart still beating with adrenaline. "I don't even know how this happened."

They looked down, and they were about fifty yards high. Definitely too high to just fall. The rock face was about ten feet away from their current position, but they didn't dare try to swing in case Grant's arms unlatched.

"Oh, God, what do we do?" the man asked, trying to come up with a solution that would save them. "Can you un-stretch? Maybe we can climb to the top."

As his body began to calm down, he started to feel the build-up of lactic acid that proved he was straining his muscles. He was lifting a large amount of weight, despite the sort of leverage that the position of his arms had.

"I can't hold on much longer, Dad!" he exclaimed when it became too much. "And I don't think I can retract!"

"You have to try, son!"

He took the deepest breath he could manage, trying to relax his breathing and his body. Perhaps the adrenaline was the source of this strange malleability his arms suddenly had. And if he focused hard enough, maybe he could relax the hormones and retract his arms.

Slowly but surely, his body began to rise as his arms seemed to flow back toward him, like some kind of yo-yo. His dad dangled dangerously below him, and the weight was not any easier to carry.

Finally, Grant got up to the ledge, and once his body was safely rooted to the overhang, he unlatched his hands and they seemed to snap back into place. He leaned over to help his dad get up, pulling on the cord that was the only reason his dad had survived.

"Oh, my goodness," the man finally said, holding onto the overhang for dear life. "I don't know how you did it, but I'm glad you did."

Grant never got to answer the question. Once they were safely on the overhang, his body relaxed and he fell immediately asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>How was it? Good or bad? I don't have much to say, but I hope this chapter gets you interested enough about what is to come.<strong>


	9. Speed and Spyke: Studied and Spied

**_Speed and Spyke:_**  
><strong><em>Studied and Spied<em>**

The early morning light streamed across his pillow as he awoke, feeling very tired and unrested. He looked at the alarm clock, wondering if he would have time for a few more minutes, but school was starting too soon for another nap.

He got up and stretched, thinking about his weekend. Friday and Saturday were uneventful, but when he finally thought about Sunday, he realized that his arms were stretched across the room and touching the desk about fifteen feet away from him.

"What the hell?" his arms recoiled like a yo-yo, and when he looked down at them, his eyes widened with surprise.

His skin was a brilliant golden hue, shining like a lustrous piece of metal. He poked and prodded it, and it still felt like normal skin. He pulled at his arm, and when it stretched like a piece of rubber, Grant Forsythe gasped.

_What do I do? What has happened? Did I get exposed to a chemical? Is that why I was able to save us yesterday? How am I going to go to school looking like this? I'd be branded as a freak, a weirdo. _Grant thought, mentally grappling with himself.

He closed his eyes and stepped in front of the mirror, preparing himself to look at his own freaky reflection. When he peaked at his reflection, he was shocked and dismayed again.

His entire upper body was more muscular than it had been before, as though he had gained a few pounds over night. The golden and metallic sheen continued across his whole body, the light catching it just right to glint against the walls. His jet-black hair was now spotted in certain places with golden flecks. And his bright blue eyes were now a ruddy amber color.

He must have stood there for several minutes, not knowing what to think or what to say. He could only stare in disbelief at the slightly more muscular, golden version of himself.

"Grant! I'm bringing breakfast!" his dad called from the bottom of the stairs. The boy's changed eyes widened in the mirror as he wondered what he was going to do. He couldn't let his dad see him like this!

He jumped in the bed, very quickly covering himself from head to foot with the comforter, just as his dad walked in.

"Hey, son. Wake up," the man said as he stepped inside. He placed the food on the bedside table, the smell of bacon and eggs and toast wafting throughout the room. "I've got your favorite meal here."

"Leave me alone, Dad," Grant muttered, hoping that he would just go away.

"You've got school, son. Get up."

Grant gulped, wanting to meld into the mattress and never move again. When his body tried to comply be spreading out like a sheet, he had to force himself back together again with every ounce of his focus. He took a leap of faith and jumped out of bed, his back to his dad so that he couldn't see the reaction.

"What? What happened? Does this have something to do with the way you stretched yesterday?" his dad asked with a concerned and terrified voice. Grant heard him stand up off the bed, but when the hand reached out, his body stretched away as though the touch repelled him like a magnet. "Grant, turn around and look at me. I just want to talk about this." He sounded confident on the outside, but Grant knew he was quivering in every way possible on the inside.

The boy turned around and immediately looked down. The fifteen year old didn't want to see his dad's face.

Shocked eyes looked the boy up and down, and it took a few moments before the man could respond. "Come on, Grant. We're g-going to head to the hospital and have them check you out. This can't be healthy."

The terrified boy within him wanted to conform to everything his father said. But the scientist within him knew that he couldn't.

"Dad, the doctors will probably send me to the government to be dissected. As much as I want another opinion, we can't do it," Grant admitted, knowing it to be true.

His father sighed and contemplated it for another long moment, his hands almost shaking with nervouness. "I'm going to call a few people. Ma-maybe there's something going around the school." He started to leave, but Grant grabbed his arm and locked eyes with him.

"What am I going to do? This doesn't feel like a disease, Dad. I've never heard of anything like that happening. I know it will sound weird, but I feel better than fine. Stronger and smarter than before."

"But you don't look fine, Grant!" his dad exclaimed, louder than he actually meant to. Grant could feel the near disappointment and concern in his father's voice. "Someone has to know_ something_, and if I have to drag you to the emergency room, I'll do it. You could be really sick for all we know!"

And with that, he left the room. Grant stood in the same place, refusing to budge. He thought about his skin, wondering why certain qualities of his appearance changed as well as the malleability. Since when had he become like aurum (1)?

His eyes flashed with wonder as an image floated into his mind. It was a device that looked surprisingly like a watch, but it held far more capabilities than just that.

He rushed over to his desk, sat at the seat, and began to draw in his favorite notebook.

* * *

><p>The jet arced through the air, heading straight for the location of the new mutant. Xavier and Logan were at the cockpit, with Adeana and Rivera in the back. The rest of the students declined coming on the recruitment trip.<p>

"So, Dean, how are your classes with Xavier doing?" Rivera asked, the tripling mutant truly wondering.

_**As well as can be expected, I guess. My voice can still do some dangerous things if left unchecked, but I managed to heal a baby bird's wing after the twelfth try the other day, **_the girl wrote out on a notepad that she tried to keep with her at all times.

"That's great, Dean! I'm proud of you!" Rivera said with a smile. "I promise that you will get there one day. I know you will."

Dean could only nod before Xavier suddenly sped up the plane, jerking them roughly in one direction. Logan grumbled under his breath something about "stupid parents," and then leaned back to them.

"Hold on, girls," he said. "It's going to be a bumpy ride. The professor sensed that this kid's idiot dad is going to call an ambulance later today. We have to hurry now."

Both Dean and Rivera checked their seatbelts and then held onto the armrests as the jet broke the sound barrier.

* * *

><p>"What a dump," the boy said as the cab dropped him off. He started to wonder if he should have listened to the driver when asked if this was where he wanted to go.<p>

The Brotherhood of Bayville Boarding House stood before him, although "stood" should be considered a strong word there. The building almost looked crooked and swaying in a few places, and broken windows seemed to be more prevalent than unbroken ones. The yard was a mess, and were those scorch marks on the concrete?

He grabbed his backpack from the trunk of the cab, paid the driver, and then walked up to the front door and hoped that someone was home. He knocked on the door, half-expecting it to fall off of its hinges.

It was several moments later before the door finally opened to reveal a disheveled blond kid with what some might call the wardrobe of a mugger. "Who are you?" the kid asked, his voice smooth and rough at the same time.

"Tristan Hawkins, your new housemate," the boy said as he walked through the door and into the front foyer. "Got any beer?"

The other boy smiled. "I think I'm going to like you, Hawkins. Don't tell the girls or Mystique, but there's a stash in the cellar. Come on. I'm Archie Jones, by the way."

He led Tristan into the cellar, which was more like an underground laundry dumpster, but on one far wall, there was a cooler that was obscured by the junk stored below. As he cracked one open, he figured that it was as good a time as any to ask. "So when's Mystique getting here?"

Archie shrugged. "Probably after school, if I had to guess. She's the high school's principal. So how'd you meet her?"

This is where the lying starts. "Well, she approached me at my old school and told me she had a way I could use my powers. Thought mine would be useful to her."

"I guess she thought the same thing about mine." Archie pointed to the can of beer in his hand and the liquid began to flow out of the top, immediately swirling into a small ball hovering over the can. "Since I've showed you mine, what's yours?"

Tristan was unfazed by the boy's gifts. He had seen a similar power before, but that is another story. He pointed to the concrete pillar, knowing that the concrete would be enough to hold the blast, and then made a gun-like gesture with his thumb and pointer finger. He lowered his thumb fast, firing off a very thin red beam of energy that left a small burn mark on the pillar.

"Whoa!"

Archie's eyes widened as Tristan fired off five more shots, each time looking more a more tired. After the sixth shot, the boy looked about ready to sleep. "You okay, Tristan?"

"Yeah." He touched the skin of his forearm, where Archie noticed six dot-like tattoos. The energy-shooting mutant rubbed his hand over those dots, and immediately, they began to disappear. He considered explaining his powers to Archie, but the assassin in him told him to leave it secret. "So that's why I call myself Arsenal."

"Madidus," Archie answered. "That's my mutant name."

"What's that mean?"

"Well, it means 'wet' in Latin," Archie answered. "Goes along with the powers, I guess. Blame Mystique, if you want. She came up with it."

The newcomer merely shrugged. "So what's she trying to do, anyways? Mystique, I mean?"

Archie thought for a moment. "Well, she's planning something, probably something to do with the X-Geeks."

"X-Geeks?" Tristan knew whom Archie was talking about, but he needed to ask.

"Well, the X-Men are a group of complete loser mutants. I once faced off with their leader, and I almost had her number," Archie said furiously, clenching his fist and causing the ball of beer above his can to constrict into a tight sphere.

"What about the other members of the Brotherhood?" asked Tristan. "Do they know anything about Mystique's plans?"

"Jade is pretty cool, and she can slow down or speed up stuff if it's moving," explained Archie. "But Astoria completely gets on my nerves. She is like a reverse s'more: soft and gooey on the outside but strange and hard on the inside. She's got a weirdo personality and she's not afraid to blast you with a fireball. I don't think either one of them would know anything about Mystique's plans."

Tristan thought about it for a moment. "So this is the _Brother_hood, but there are just as many girls in it as guys? Interesting. Are they at least cute girls?"

Archie laughed. "Jade is pretty hot, and Astoria can be cute when she's not trying to burn off your face."

Tristan laughed and then looked at his watch as he finished his beer, and then pointed to the door. "I probably should head upstairs and get unpacked, and then head to school. I need to talk to Mystique about getting enrolled."

Archie merely nodded and left him to do his business, taking a swig from the can.

* * *

><p>Grant made one final line and then put down the pencil and held up the piece of paper into the light. His mind was still whirling about how it could be designed, and he still needed a name, but the design was complete and if built properly, it could work too.<p>

Just how could he build it? Some of the materials would no doubt be expensive, and he didn't know if he had enough of the stuff he already had. It was the key to his normal life if he could build it.

It had only been a few hours since his dad went to work, and Grant had a nagging feeling in the back of his head that his father would do something stupid. As far as he could tell, he didn't feel sick at all. He looked wrong and was thoroughly freaked out, but he felt rather okay.

It was then that he heard the sirens rushing down the street. At first, he didn't think they could possibly be related to him, but when the ambulance barreled down the street and turned in at their driveway, he freaked. He stashed the design into his pocket and began to wonder.

Could he ignore them? Would they have the legal right to enter the house? He could refuse them, couldn't he? Why would his dad do this? He shouldn't have this life of experimentation, so why would his father do this?

He rushed downstairs, using his newfound ability to stretch to guide him down the stairs. The first time he skipped five steps he nearly fell, but the rest of his super-long steps went well.

Throwing on a shirt from the laundry bin, he paced up and down the hallway, not sure if he should just go straight out and face the music. His skin might not be noticeable for half-a-second. Could he just run? He could probably make it pretty far if he could manage to blow himself up and walk a mile with every step.

When the doorbell rang, he froze. Now was the time, if it was necessary. Should he open the door? What if they completely freaked out? What if they called the police and arrested me for being strange?

_Calm your mind, Grant,_ said a very foreign but soothing voice within his head. He pondered at how soothing it sounded, before the doorbell rang again. This time, the tranquility forced him to open the door and reveal four strangers standing outside his door. A bald man in a wheelchair, a hulking short man with a lot of hair, an older girl with stunning auburn hair and a darker skin tone, and a younger girl with straight black hair and bright green eyes.

He immediately tried to run backwards as though they might freak out, but a steady voice broke through the emotional wall. He looked back up at them, and none of them were shocked or scared in any way.

"It's okay, Grant," the bald man in a wheelchair said. "We are not here to judge you in any way. The ambulance is gone, and we would like to help you."

Grant peered at them with confusion, feeling as though the man's voice was the same as the one that had been in his head. "How are you going to help a freak like me?"

"Let's have a look at that design in your pocket then," said the man. "I think that might actually help you."

Grant was dumb-founded, but he made no move to get it. "How did you know that?"

"I apologize," the man said. "Sometimes, I don't even think about using my telepathy. My name is Charles Xavier, and this Rivera, Dean, and Logan. We're mutants, just like you."

Grant went into science mode. "So basically, you are saying that I am a member of the next stage of human evolution? That these abilities come from a mutation in my genetic code?"

Xavier nodded. "Yes, I do believe that sums it up. In my youth, I started an institute for young mutants to learn about their abilities and help them find peace. I would truly love to help you, and the blue-print in your pocket is entirely possible to build if you will allow."

He pulled out the design and looked it over. "Are you sure it would work?" He handed it to Xavier, who looked over it for a few moments before nodding.

"Yes, I truly do. With my funds and expertise, we can have this ready for you within a week, if you'd like to join us at the Institute."

"The professor has done wonders for me and my powers," Rivera said, glowing a slight white color before splitting into three identical versions of herself. "He truly can help you, if you'll let him." It was one thing knowing about these 'mutants,' but seeing the powers was still quite shocking to Grant. His eyes widened at the three Riveras.

"Seriously, kid, I'm planning on this being the last recruiting mission for a while, so hurry up and make up your mind," said Logan brashly.

Grant thought for a few moments, wondering how he was chosen out of all the people in the world to be "evolved." This was something that every geneticist in the world has been predicting ever since Darwin's theories became the premier science. Everything from his journals and books was proven when Grant stretched to save his father and himself on that cliff. Some would say that it was a work of God, and others would say it would be natural selection. Whatever it was, it changed him, and it was up to Grant to decide what to do with it.

"What about my dad?"

"I would never take you away from your father with force," Xavier assured him. "This is up to both of you, and it is a tough decision to make."

Grant took a look at all the people in front of him, from Xavier's kind, fatherly face to Rivera's bright petite smile, from Logan's smug scowl to Dean's emotional glance.

"Why would I pass this opportunity up?"

* * *

><p>Ava was heading to chemistry class when she spotted a rather new student staring at the school in somewhat confusion. He had medium-length messy black hair and looked very lean, wearing a simple gray hoodie and dark pants.<p>

"Hey, do you need any help with anything?" she asked, coming over to be friendly. And to check him out, to be honest.

The boy was not above looking her up and down. She was surprised that he hadn't made her turn around to check out the other side. "Well, if you're offering, there _are_ a few things you could help me with," he said with a cocky smile. "The name is Tristan Hawkins."

She smirked at him, amused. "Ava Bronte. That's not exactly the kind of help that I was offering, but I can give you a few cheerleaders' numbers if you want."

His eyebrows rose. "Hmm, I might have to take you up on that." He gestured to the building. "Would you like to accompany me to the office? I need to see the principal as soon as possible."

"Of course," Ava answered with a smile, beckoning him to follow. They talked about classes, flirted a little bit back and forth, and Ava actually did give him Crystal's number. When they finally arrived at the office, Tristan pointed at her head.

"I like your pink hair," the boy said, and Ava peered at him.

"Amaranth," she said matter-of-factly. "That's what color it is."

"Well, Fuchsia, I'll see you later," Tristan said with a smile, before opening the door and heading inside.

Ava watched him leave, wondering why his breath had smelt like alcohol.

* * *

><p>"Ava… What a cool name," Tristan muttered as he entered the office. He spotted the door that lead to Mystique and wondered if the secretary would let him by.<p>

It only took him a few seconds of flashing his charm at the woman before she let him by, and he entered the office without a moment of hesitation.

The office was rather lush, probably because the shape-shifter could take any money she wanted from any bank in the world. The woman was in her disguise, sitting next to the window and watching the lawn.

When he shut the door loudly, she looked toward him, startled. "What brings you here? Do you need my help with anything?"

"Cut the crap, Mystique," Tristan said, and the woman stared at him with thin eyes. She then shifted into her true form, a blue-skinned mutant wearing a revealing white dress-suit.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

"Arsenal, and I want a place on your team," said the boy. "I met some of the other mutants you've brought here, and when I heard that you were recruiting, I'd love to join your team."

The woman looked at me confusedly. "How do you know all of this?"

"Does it really matter, Mystique? I want to work for you, and I've got a lot of talents." He pointed to the open window and shot a red beam and hit a blue city mailbox from one hundred yards away. "What do you think?"

It took her a moment, but soon enough, she smirked. "I applaud you for coming. You do have many talents, and I think it would be a waste to not use them. You have your spot on my team."

Tristan merely nodded. "Thanks."

"No problem," the woman said as she shifted back into the principal disguise.

* * *

><p><strong>I was going to keep going on this episode, but I thought that I could end it here in order to post more quickly. Please, tell me what you think in a review! It might seem unfinished, but I will touch on the loose ends next time. Thanks for reading and please review!<strong>

**(1)- Aurum means "Gold." **

**Anywho, please review! (Haha, I'm a poet and I don't even know it!) **


	10. Middleverse: Into the Gameverse

**_Middleverse:  
>Into the Gameverse<em>**

Grant and Xavier looked down at the finished product, both setting down their tools. The boy admired the device for a moment, before finally wrapping it around his wrist and pressing the button.

He looked down at himself excitedly, feeling the whirring as the hologram fell into place. He was no longer golden, just a regular version of himself before the change his mutantcy provided.

"It works!" he exclaimed, feeling as though he should run through the halls of his new home and shout to the world. "I can't believe that I designed it and it worked!"

Xavier grinned. "I am glad that the image inducer worked. But you must be careful with it, for something could easily happen to the watch. The prototype isn't exactly water-proof."

Grant nodded with excitement. "Of course I will. I was worried that I would always look like that!"

Xavier caught Grant's shoulder as he turned away. "You do realize that this doesn't change who you are, right? All it does is disguise you from those who might harm you."

The boy nodded. "Yes, I know. But I've got to get to school and celebrate, so I will see you later!" With that, he ran off, leaving Xavier alone to his thoughts.

* * *

><p>School had been pretty hectic already, and it was only the first day back after a three day weekend. Biology was cramming work down Rivera's throat, while Chemistry and Anatomy were all nearly drowning the others in work. It seemed like Dean had it best, and she didn't even have to come.<p>

"I picked the wrong day to come back to school," Grant muttered. "Normally, I'd welcome the challenge of schoolwork, but this is way harder to adjust to a new system in every class."

Alex took a bite of his sandwich, and said with his mouth full, "Well, it's the same way for everyone, especially if you are lacking in the brains department as bad as I am."

"Was that even a sentence?" Ava asked with an airy chuckle. "Lacking brains is right."

They laughed, and all Alex could do was shrug and chew.

"Hey, look on the bright side," Ava said, "your image inducer works great!"

"Yeah, dude, you look pretty normal," Alex said between mouthfuls.

"Thanks, I guess," the malleable mutant said. Alex waved it off as he took a bite of pizza.

"And you might even get invited to Duncan's party," Rivera said. "I'm pretty sure that he was sending around an invitation to all the juniors today."

Grant shrugged. "I'm not really one for parties anyways."

Kris clapped him on the back. "Good news for me then. Maybe you can use that super-brain of yours to help me try out this new video game I bought the other day. Are you up for it?"

"I'm not really into video games either. To be honest, my dad always said that they were a waste," the stretching boy said.

Kris huffed. "Oh, come on! It's obvious that he's never played as Master Chief kicking alien ass with a Spartan Laser."

"Sorry," Grant shrugged. "It's just the principle of the matter anyways."

"Anyone else want to play?" Kris asked the table, but both Ava and Alex curtly agreed they were going to the party as friends, and Rivera just turned him down completely. "Fine. But don't expect me to do anything later tonight."

Ava smirked. "Just don't skip the Danger Room session. We're all leaving from the party early to make it."

Kris rolled his eyes as he got up and walked away, assuring them that he wouldn't.

* * *

><p>Tristan was just about to go to fifth period when he saw Ava sitting alone on a bench outside the gym. She looked like she was bored, probably waiting for the next class to begin.<p>

"Hey," he greeted as he walked up and plopped down next to her. "Watcha doing?"

She shrugged. "Nothing much. Just waiting for the bell."

"I can't see an exciting girl like you ever doing something boring," he said with a grin. He shot up, an idea striking him. "Come on. Let's cut class. We can do whatever you want to do."

"I'm not going to cut class just because you want me to!"

"Oh, but Fuchsia, it'll be fun! What's the risk?"

Ava's eyebrow rose. "You mean other than the detention and the extra Danger Room sessions?"

Tristan's eyes widened, remembering it from the files that he had on the X-Men. Was this girl a mutant working for Xavier? "Danger Room? What's that?"

"It's nothing," she said automatically, her face blushing when she realized she had slipped up. It took another moment or two before she finally said, "Fine. Come on, we'll go to the mall. I need to get something for Duncan's party anyways."

"Oh, yeah, I heard about that party. Too bad I'm a sophomore. I'd need an upper-classman to ask me," Tristan said, not caring if she noticed how obvious it was.

She smirked. "I like your straight-forwardness, but I'm already going with my friend Alex."

He sighed. "Oh, all right. It was worth a shot though, right?"

She smiled. "I guess so."

Tristan dragged her away from the campus, opting to walk to the mall that wasn't too far from the school.

Neither one of them noticed the woman silently following them.

* * *

><p>After finally finishing all his classes and heading back to the Institute on foot, Kris managed to hurry into his room very quickly. He was itching to start the game as soon as he possibly could, and all the hype that he had read about it over the past few weeks had him literally jumping out of his skin.<p>

He locked the door so that he wouldn't be disturbed, which now that he thought about it, might seem odd for a teenage boy. He left it alone anyway.

He entered the game disc and turned on the game console. When the words, "The Dark Phoenix Saga" appeared on the screen, he nearly dropped his jaws at the picture of the flaming bird flying over the medieval castle. It was so majestic, so powerful. He locked eyes with the creature on the scene, seeing all of its depth and unending malice.

So threatening.

With that thought, before he even got to play, he suddenly felt the familiar rise of power within him. Orange sparks flew from his fingertips and locked onto the controller, energy slowly flowing into it. It only took a moment before he started to freak out, feeling his hands and arms slowly fade into energy, before finally, he was yanked from his seat and into the darkness below.

Kris awoke in the middle of a meadow of purple, flowing flowers. He was nestled firmly against the trunk of a very tall oak tree, one that was so spread across the sky that he could barely see how abnormal it was.

He stood up and surveyed his surroundings. The meadow seemed to go on for miles, but only certain sections of it seemed real, almost as though some of it was only phased in and didn't feel as though it was really there. The sky was bright red instead of blue, and there appeared to only be one source of light in the sky, but it wasn't the sun. A volcano stood far into the horizon, behind a stretch of mountains, with light streaming from it like an endless sunrise.

"Where the hell am I?" Kris looked down and was shocked to see that he was wearing tight black and yellow leather armor, not unlike his X-Men uniform, if it were orange. A thin knife was at his belt. "This couldn't get any weirder."

Why did he have to open his mouth?

There was a roar from something to the right, and before he could say anything at all, a panther of brown hair and what looked like pink eyes burst forth from the trees as though it had jumped from the shadows. It growled at him furiously, trying to study him while intimidating him at the same time.

He held up his arms in surrender. "Hey, kitty," Kris began nervously, trying to somehow shoot sparks to scare away the beast. "Kitty, you don't want to hurt me."

The panther screeched, immediately jarring him right down to the bone. He stood in fear and wondered if he could wake up from this dream already, because it was getting too strange, even for a mutant.

The cat reared back and got ready to pounce, while Kris just stood there, wondering why he couldn't charge up his sparks to scare it away. He thought about backing away, but where could he go? He was in the middle of a meadow with nowhere to hide at all.

Immediately, the creature leapt forward, and Kris silently prayed he would get the best mansion he could when he died.

He heard a quick flash followed by a guttural sound and a whimper. Nothing had happened to him, so when he opened his eyes carefully, he was surprised to see a rather large silver-haired man in a set of green armor, holding a very sharp looking lance. The panther was lying off to the side, a painful wound in its side, probably dead.

"You should have run from the Shadowcat, you know?" the man said, shouldering his lance on his very broad back. "They can be nasty, if you let them."

"Who are you?" Kris asked incredulously, still in shock from the ordeal.

"Well, I'm kind of famous around these parts, but they call me Brother. What's your name?" the silver-haired man with a thick neck asked as he plopped down on the ground.

"Um, Brother, my name is Kris Tanaka," he tried, but the man just looked at him.

"Never heard of that kind of name before," he said. "But seriously, what place could you have come from to have not known to run from a Shadowcat's territory?"

Kris didn't know what to say. He didn't know where he was, or if the man would even know what general area Bayville was in. "Well, I don't really know. It's all kind of fuzzy."

"Oh, you mean like those fuzzy blue demons who are paid to make the rich laugh?" Brother asked, almost laughing his own head off. It took him a moment to realize that wasn't what he was talking about, and the laughter slowly died down to an awkward moment. "So you mean the memory going blank kind of fuzzy?"

Kris nodded. "Yeah, I really don't remember where I'm from. I don't even know where I am now, or how I got here."

"Oh, I can help with one part, I think. You're in the Endless Meadow of Danger Forest!" He seemed to produce a map from nothing and then spread it out on the ground. Kris studied it for a few moments, memorizing locations of the land called Utopia, where things obviously weren't one. The map was vaguely familiar, almost like he had seen it before, but it was too hazy to recall where he had seen it. "And I think I can help you get your memories back!" He pointed to a spot on the map, in the middle of the Infinite Desert. An oasis that also served as a bustling city for everyone around, it was not too far from the base of the Cerebral Mountains, and the Phoenix Volcano.

_Phoenix…_

"No freaking way," the boy suddenly said, wondering if it could be true. It seemed impossible, but where was he otherwise? Was he crazy? Or…

Had he somehow ended up in the game?

* * *

><p>Both Tristan and Ava walked around the mall, with Tristan as the pack mule. He was holding all the bags of shoes and clothes, and before long, it was starting to get tiring.<p>

"Ava, is this enough yet?" Tristan said, pretending to breathe hard from exhaustion. "I mean, wasn't the whole point to get one thing for Duncan's party?"

She looked at him like he was crazy. "Are you nuts? I have to have the right shoes, the right dress, the right make-up, and my hair has to look perfect, and-"

He cut her off with a sincere look. "You already look perfect. So you could buy anything in this store and still look good in it."

She was shocked by the sincerity; that much Tristan could tell based on her eyes. "So if I went and tried on a pair of bright yellow overalls, you'd still think I look good?"

He tried to imagine what she would look like, and then smiled. "Well, it might take some extra primping, but you could pull it off."

She laughed as they turned the corner. "Oh, you're just saying that." She looked over at the nearest shop and studied the dress in the window. "What do you think about this one?"

Tristan didn't answer, too busy looking at the reflection in the mirror. An average-looking woman wearing a trench-coat was staring at them from across the way, and he might not have thought anything of it if it wasn't the fourth time he had seen something like it.

Every time they came to a stop, Tristan had noticed some strange characters following them. He thought to ask Ava about it, but she would probably just say that they were in a mall. Plenty of people are around, and it could be something completely normal.

But the assassin side of him knew something was up. He couldn't help the unnerving feeling, and he decided to keep himself ready to fire at will, whether they were in the middle of the mall or not.

"Tristan, what do you think?" Ava asked again, this time sounding a little annoyed. He glanced over at the black dress that would probably come down to about mid-thigh on her.

"Yeah, I think it looks great," he said, mentally storing the fantasy of Ava wearing the dress for later. "It would look good on you."

"All right, I think I'm going to get it," she said, smiling. "It's just under my budget for things like this."

"Budget? Your parents give you a budget?" asked Tristan, keeping his eyes open for any changes. The woman who had been following them had long since disappeared, but he still felt uneasy about the whole thing.

"Sort of," she explained. "Xavier re-routes the money my parents send for necessities and miscellaneous stuff."

His eyes had grown wide at the mention of Xavier. This girl was a mutant! It was exciting, almost, but a little bit scary at the same time. Should he say something, or should he leave it alone? He opted for the latter, deciding to keep his mutantcy a secret for a bit longer.

"Oh, well, that's cool," was all he could say.

* * *

><p>Hopping on the back of a giant toad is not the best way to travel.<p>

Seriously, Kris felt like he was going to fall off every time the toad leapt and plummeted down. Brother, however, was holding on like a pro, which was probably good since he summoned the giant amphibians with a snap of his fingers.

"Can't you like, summon a horse or something? Wouldn't that be better than this?" he asked, bumping his head against the slimy skin every time they moved.

"Oh, horses are vastly overrated!" Brother exclaimed. "Toads are so much better in every way!"

"Whatever you say," Kris mumbled, slamming his head against the toad incessantly.

"Oh, hey, look!" Brother yelled, pointing directly ahead. "It's the city we're looking for!"

Sure enough, the toads were now hopping through the desert, and even though they could see the destination, it didn't seem to be getting any closer.

"Why can't it be right next to us?" he mumbled again, just as Brother's toad kicked up dirt and into Kris's face.

Why did he get himself into this mess?

Suddenly, there was a loud screech, and something-no, some things burst through the sand and landed in front of them. The toads lurched to a stop, throwing both Brother and Kris off of them and into a crumpled heap in the sand. Kris barely listened as he heard the toads run away in sheer terror.

Brother shot up, drawing his lance and putting himself between Kris and the nearest creature. He stabbed at it, trying to get it to back up, but it wouldn't go.

There were three bone-plated reptilian creatures with spikes covering almost every inch of the body, beginning at the spine. They were angry, almost temperamental creatures with coloring that blended into the sand.

"What are these things?" Kris asked, his hand on his knife.

"They're called Spykes, and they aren't happy. They must find us tasty!" With that remark, the center Spyke shot forward and nearly bit off the end of Brother's lance, and if he hadn't pulled it back, the weapon would be a goner.

"All right, if those spiky things touch you, they'll burn through your skin. You can't let them touch you, and if you get an opening, you run with all your might, okay?" Brother advised, and all Kris could do was nod and grip the knife.

The man rushed forward with agility that Kris wouldn't have though the man could have, flinging the lance through the air. He dodged and evaded, keeping his distance while glinting his weapon off the creatures' armor. Kris was so mesmerized by watching Brother's dance that he almost didn't notice the second Spyke rushing toward him.

He ran several feet to the right, making the monster charge past him. He nearly made a break for it, but the third Spyke stepped in the path. Kris decided that it was now or never, and leapt forward with all his might, brandishing the knife with the best of his ability. He managed to strike at the eyeball, making the creature shriek in pain before it finally sunk to the ground.

Kris grabbed up the knife and ran through the sand dunes, hoping that Brother would be following him shortly. Several minutes later, he turned around and saw the man fast approaching, hopping on the back of another toad.

"Hey, sorry bout that. I had to get rid of the last two," the man said as he approached, holding out an arm and letting Kris hop on. "Let's get going. We should be able to get to the oasis in an hour, maybe two."

Two more hours on the back of a toad.

What fun.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope this one was as fun to read as it was to write. I should have the second half of it within a couple days, so bare with me. Please, review and let me know what you think!<strong>

**BTW: Brother embodies a combination of the original four members of the Brotherhood. Lance is the lance that he uses, the green armor and summoning of toads is pretty obvious, the silver hair is Pietro, and his somewhat fat body is Blob. **

**The other references were pretty obvious, but if you have any questions, let me know. **


	11. Middleverse: A Gameversing Expert

_** Middleverse:**_  
><em><strong>A Gameversing Expert<strong>_

Kris silently cursed himself for getting himself involved in this mess, even if it was an accident. He didn't know if there was something else he should do just to get out of it, or if he was pretty much screwed until he could talk to this "Monitor" guy that Brother kept talking about.

And who in the heck was Brother? It almost seemed like the guy had multiple personality disorder. At times, he was cool and collected, but at other (more frequent) times, the guy was a dunce, the kind of guy kids made fun of for being weird.

Sure, it might seem bad for Kris to make fun of the guy. Brother probably couldn't help whatever problem he had, seeing as how he was a glorified computer program designed by geeks who wouldn't know the real world from a television screen. Hell, they probably wrote fanfiction or something in their spare time. Losers.

Anyway, Kris stared ahead at the city looming in front of him, very surprised that the desert oasis in the center of the city built up so much civilization.

"We're here!" Brother yelled as he pulled his toad to a stop, nearly falling off into the sparse sand below.

Kris stopped his own toad, but he couldn't tell you how. All he knew is that one moment, he was riding something worse than a mechanical bull, and the next he was sitting haphazardly on the ground, sand fully covering his back. "Yay," he said as excitedly he could manage, but if he could be honest, it sounded more like really fat cat at naptime.

Brother yanked Kris off the ground and strolled over to the guards posted outside the city's ten foot high walls made of brick. "Hey, how are ya? We have business inside the city."

The guard, dressed in enough gold armor it might make your eyes bleed from the appearance of a second sun, looked at Brother in pure apathy. "Look, guys. I've let in so many people like you that it really isn't funny anymore. Everyone claims that the world is at stake, and there are so many Chosen Ones that I'm starting to wonder if there's a new political party. I swear, if you say that it is your destiny, fate, spiritual mumbo jumbo, I'm not letting you in."

Brother rose an eyebrow. "No, I just need to help my buddy here get home. He can't seem to remember where he lives."

"Oh," the guard said rather happily, before smiling at Kris and opening the gate with the press of a button. "In that case, welcome to Genosha, City of the Oasis, Heroes, Deserts, Paradise, blah, blah, blah."

Kris smirked as Brother thanked the guard and guided him into the sprawling city filled with merchants and armored soldiers. Customers flocked the many shops and stands on the main thoroughfare, which lead right up to the palace, a sparkling building with many towers right at the base of the mountain range that housed the volcano.

"All right, don't pay any attention to anyone here," Brother said wisely. "Everyone here will try to swindle you, and if you aren't careful, they'll rob you blind. Even if they have the fanciest wares in the world, like that really cool lance-" And with that, he interrupted himself and approached a stand occupied by a woman wrapped from head to toe in green robes, the appearance of a knife at her belt. Her bright green eyes shone from the face ringed with fabric, auburn and white hair jutting outward.

Her stand had a very cool-looking lance displayed on the wooden counter, one with very elegant engravings and colors. It was quite possibly the most beautiful piece of weaponry Kris had ever seen, and he watched Brother practically drool over the display case.

"Hypocrite," he muttered under his breath as he approached the man who didn't even follow his own advice.

"Ah think you'll like this one," the merchant said, Southern accent thick on her voice. Did the game creators have some kind of fettish for country girls or something, because they definitely weren't even in the US so this kind of accent didn't really make sense. "It's very well-made, and Ah think y'all with appreciate it."

"How much?" Brother asked, pulling his coin purse from his belt.

"How much yah got?" the woman said, a small smirk beginning to form on her lips.

Before he could answer, Kris stepped in between them. "It's a great weapon, but I think we'll manage without it."

"Yah sure? It's a one-time deal," the girl warned, but Kris resolutely shook his head. "Fine. Leave meh stand before Ah make ya."

Kris had to drag the hefty man in green armor away from the shop with great effort. Brother was groaning because he really wanted that lance, and despite Kris's arguments that he already had a fine lance, the man just scoffed like a little kid.

"But I want _that _one!" Brother said for the umpteenth time.

"Think about what you said to me, Brother! That girl was a rogue if I've ever seen one! She was trying to rob you!" Kris tried, and it only momentarily sunk in before the man started to complain again. Kris just ignored it, asking him the next think the boy needed to know. "Where is this Monitor guy?"

That seemed to break the spell that lance had put on him, and Brother began to ponder it. "I think he lives in a small hovel not too far from here. I know the way, so follow me!" And just like that, the man returned to normal (as normal as he could get).

It took them about ten or fifteen minutes of slowly navigating the crowds before they finally came upon a row of houses that could barely be considered liveable. The slums, Kris supposed.

"With the way you talk about him, I'd expect him to live in the palace," Kris muttered, but Brother could only shrug.

"Likes the quiet life, I guess. Come on!" Brother knocked on the door hard, loud enough that half of China could hear him, especially back in the real world.

"So much for quiet," Kris mumbled as the door finally opened to reveal the owner of the house.

He was probably in his late sixties, early seventies, and had so much gray beard that it matched every cliché in the book (or would it be game manual?). He was a short, thick man with deep blue eyes and wore a commoners' tunic and brown pants.

"Hello? How can I help you?" the man said, nearly confused. When he saw Brother, the man seemed to brighten a bit. "Ah, Brother, it's good to see you!"

"Yeah, you too, old man. This is my friend Kris." at the mention of my name, Monitor's eyes seemed to pop open. "He needs to get home, and I was hoping you could help him."

The bearded man looked from Kris to Brother, and then back towards the inside of his house, his eyes bewildered and excited at the appearance of Kris. "Come on inside, K-Kris. Brother, could you please wait out here. I need to speak with him alone, for a moment."

Brother nodded. "Sure. I'll be outside." Monitor beckoned Kris inside his little abode, shutting the door behind him.

* * *

><p>Tristan and Ava started to walk home, exhaustion settling in. But the day was far from over to Ava, who still had the party <em>and <em>a Danger Room session. Not to mention that she had to get herself looking as pretty as she could, and she really wanted to bedazzle the people at the party, even if she was the only one dressed up to her degree.

"So how are things since you moved here, Tristan?"

The boy shrugged. "Okay, I guess. A lot better since I started hanging out with you."

She was not going to blush and give him the satisfaction, and she tried to fight the sensation, but her cheeks lied for her. "Again with the forwardness. I've known you for like twelve hours, and you barely know me, and I barely know you."

He shrugged again. "What can I say? It's love at first sight." He tried to make as serious a face as he could, and Ava gaped at him in shock. When he finally burst into laughter, she glared at him.

"Not funny, kid. Let's just get me back home and you can go on your merry way, you little weasel."

He faked being upset. "Can't I be something cooler than a weasel? Like, a snake or something?"

She grinned, this time the ball was in her court. "The only snake I like is a dead snake."

He smiled, laughing. He was surprised that he was actually having a good time with her, even if it had an ulterior motive behind it. He wondered if he would ever get out of the "job-first, live-second" mentality.

They came up on the Institute, and there was now no doubt in his mind that this girl was a mutant on Xavier's side. Should he ask? Would she tell? He had no reason not to trust her at this point, but he wasn't sure if he should. Would it be frowned upon by his superiors, if he got in close with the enemy? Wasn't that the whole point of him being here, to learn about Mystique's and Xavier's plots?

"Well, I guess I will see you later," Ava said, smiling as she took the many bags from him. He was going to protest, but she assured him that she could handle the weight.

"All right, later then," he said, turning to walk away. He considered kissing her on the cheek before he lost his chance, but immediately thought against it. Too many factors and too much risk.

Ava smiled as the boy walked away, and for a moment, she wondered if there was some chemistry between the two of them already.

She hurried towards the front door, and silently cursed herself when the appearance of Xavier mucked up her plans. Ava wondered if she could get away with it if she turned around, but he merely stared at her, and she knew she was a goner.

"The secretary called," the professor said, and immediately, Ava cringed under the telepath's scrutiny. "She said that you skipped the last three classes of the day. May I ask why, or should I probe your mind?"

She gulped, knowing how intimidating the monk-like man could be. "I went shopping with a friend, Professor, and bought a bunch of things for the party."

He pondered something for a moment, and then pointed to the bags. "Take them upstairs and put them in your closet for the next party, Ava. You won't be needing them tonight, but you might want to put on your uniform after dinner, because all of you are staying for a double duty Danger Room session with Logan."

It was as though he had figured out the perfect punishment for her, and by association, all of them. She was their leader, and yet she let everyone down by making a double session. She knew from experience that those were the absolute worst, and the one time that she had a triple was something that she would never forget, even though she wished she could.

"Yes, sir," she said after a pause, before heading into the building and up to her room.

* * *

><p>Kris sat at the table that Monitor beckoned him to sit at, surrounded by drawings and manuals that had no meaning to him at all. He could barely tell what the infinite symbol meant, much less all the complicated calculus sitting around him.<p>

"Would you like some tea?" the man asked as he opened the cupboard, pulling out a kettle and a package of tea leaves.

Kris figured that it couldn't hurt and asked for one. Monitor placed the kettle and some water into the fireplace, starting the fire and letting it heat up.

"So you aren't from around here, I take it?" asked the man nonchalantly, yet somehow piercing directly to the route of the problem.

"No, I'm not. I'm from Bayville, New York, actually," Kris said, deciding that if this man was going to help, he may as well explain everything. He went on to say how he had gotten here and how that he knew this was all a video game.

"Ah, I wouldn't have thought it possible, if it hadn't happened to me all those years ago," the man said, smiling.

"Wait, you're also from the real world? How did you get here?" asked Kris incredulously. "And how has it been years? This game came out a few months ago."

That last bit came as a bit of a shock for Monitor. "I've been in the game since the first day I played it, and I suppose time moves faster here, because I've been here for nearly forty years."

Kris's eyes widened in shock. "Seriously? I mean, how did it happen? I think my mutant powers somehow teleported me here, but I've never done anything like it before."

"I am what they call a technopath, I think. I didn't even know there was such a thing as mutants before I met with some people back in the real world when I was like fourteen. I think I connected mentally with the game, and somehow, I ended up here, and my powers were severely limited." He placed his hands on the table, and his eyes began to glow with blue light. There was a flash as the table molded into a potted plant, and then a small toy boat, and then back into a table. "I can sort of make things happen here, but on a small scale."

"That's amazing," Kris said, smiling. "My powers don't even work here. I don't know why, since yours seem to work fine." The boy explained what his powers could do, and Monitor was amazed.

"Basically, you could make anyone stronger that you wanted to, right? Would it work on me? I could get us out of here, I think."

Kris wasn't sure that he could do it, but he focused on bringing up the orange sparks of light. When nothing happened, he still touched Monitor's forearm, but the mutant did nothing to affect the other.

"Sorry, I got nothing," Kris muttered in annoyance. He was so close to getting out of here, but the stupid powers wouldn't work.

"It's all right," the man sighed, before getting up to pour the tea from the now boiling tea kettle. He sat a cup in front of both of them, and they chatted about their prospective lives while sipping their drinks.

"So how has your in-game life been?" Kris asked.

"Boring," Monitor said automatically. "I worked with the king for a few years, and then decided to quit. Been here ever since, working menial jobs to keep myself from going insane with boredom."

"That's good, I guess," Kris answered, not really knowing what to say. "So I guess you don't have a way out then, huh?"

"No one has ever done it before." Monitor sighed. "This game is entirely connected to stopping the Phoenix's rampage. It has been wreaking havoc across the countryside for years, and no one has ever managed to stop it. Many have tried, but all have failed. I think if we managed to get to the top of the volcano and battled the bird, we could get free, because the game would end."

Kris pondered it, resting his chin on his fingers. "Are you sure? I mean, would that have unneeded consequences? What if we got stuck in here forever?"

"Don't think about that," Monitor warned. "We'll never get out of here if we think negatively."

He had a point- an optimistic point, but a point indeed. "All right, how are we going to do this?"

Monitor thought for a moment, and the two bent over the table, discussing their plan with hushed voices.

* * *

><p>Tristan, still thinking of his whole day with Ava, wandered back into the Brotherhood house and watched Astoria and Archie having another argument. Whoever decided to put a fire elemental and a water elemental on the same team was retarded, because all they do is fight.<p>

"They were my favorite shoes, you jerk!" the Goth said, holding up a pair of shoes that were so water-logged that they would probably never be useable again. Jade was sitting in the corner, reading a book on atheism and drowning out the two teens fighting.

Archie couldn't stop from laughing, splashing the girl in the face with the residual water from the shoe. When Astoria's eyes began to flash, and blue fire started to appear, the argument had gone too far.

"Guys, shut up!" Tristan yelled, and both warring mutants looked at him. "If Mystique walked in and saw this, what would she say?"

Archie shrugged. "Mystique's already here, and she already heard us fighting. She looked so pre-occupied that she didn't even pay any attention to us when she got in."

Tristan's eyebrows rose, and he considered what would be so important to her. Without another word, he left the room and began to silently climb the stairs, using all of his stealthy tactics that he could think of to not make any noise. Archie and Astoria continued their ever-pressing argument, and Arsenal really wondered why the house hadn't burned down yet.

He crept closer to Mystique's room, thinking that he was going to try to spy on her. When he got close enough, he started to hear a one-sided conversation, and either she was talking to herself or she was on the phone.

"…seems normal though," the woman said. "Yes. I followed him today, while he went to the mall with that Ava girl. Yes, they seemed to be having a good time, like any other teenagers. No, I don't think he's doing anything suspicious. You would kick him off without any reason? He has talents, sir. I saw him hit a mailbox dead on with his powers from two-hundred yards away."

She was talking about him. She was the strangers that he had seen following him, thinking them to be suspicious, and for good reason. They were actually the shape-shifter in disguise, trying to learn more about him! He would have to be more careful, he decided, because she could turn on him at any given moment.

He heard her hang up the phone, and immediately, he crept away from the door, turning down an adjacent hallway to his own room before she could see what he was up to. It only took a moment for him to plop down onto the bed and think about everything that he had been through.

He laughed to himself as the sounds of Mystique screaming like a harpy at the two fighting downstairs.

* * *

><p><strong>How's this for a chapter? <strong>


	12. Middleverse: Endgame

**Ooh, this is a fun chapter. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Middleverse:<em>**  
><strong><em>Endgame<em>**

Dean watched the rat carefully, the professor's scrutiny upon her. They both waited for the moment where her mouth opened and the animal's blindness cured. She was about to address her worry, but Xavier cut her off, not having to look within her mind to see that she was concerned.

"Dean, you must realize your gift's full potential, or you will always be held back. It shouldn't control you," he said, laying a supporting hand on the Inuit girl's back. "I promise that this will work. Be specific, be direct. Your powers can be focused, if you will allow it." He placed two ear plugs in his

She took a deep breath, not too sure, but nodded to him. She then looked at the blind rat lying next to the food bowl and began to concentrate on the right words. "Cure the rat's genetic blindness by rearranging the DNA sequence that created the mutation." She went on to include the sequence of nucleotides, a word she barely understood, for the source of the defect, right down to the genetic core. She then repaired it, using the sequence that the professor's research pointed to a healthy rat's code for the same gene.

For a few moments, she was afraid that it didn't work. It only took thirty seconds before the whiteness covering the eye began to decline. When the surface of the rat's eye became crystal clear, the professor clapped her on the back.

"Congratulations! You did it!"

She beamed, fully excited that the rat began to scamper with its newfound vision. She wanted to yell with happiness, but she had no idea what that kind of emotion could cause the professor. _Thanks for your help!_

He was about to comment when they suddenly heard a loud squeal. The rat dropped like a rock from the top shelf of its cage, its entire body motionless as it fell. Dean stared at the dead body in dismay, her entire body in shock. She didn't even know what to think, where to begin.

The professor was just as dumbfounded and upset. "Perhaps there was a problem with the coding, a misplaced chemical."

She kept her voice even and calm, and said, "Maybe it's because I was playing God." She left it at that, her cool tone not affecting the professor in any way with his earplugs in. The most he felt was a slight discomforting feeling.

She stormed out of the room, tears coming to her eyes as bounded up the stairs. Xavier left the girl to her thoughts, keeping a watchful eye on her. Teen angst was a tough issue, and he truly was stumped at the girl's powers. They were unfathomably strong, able to do just about anything to a living thing. She could do anything from grow flowers with laughter to choke with a gasp. They were too varied, the specifications necessary for her powers to be used in a constructive way were almost impossible for a girl her age to grasp. He wouldn't be shocked if she never truly learned the full extent of what she could do if she knew the proper words.

Logan and Ororo walked into the room at that point, seeing the rat in the cage. "Oh, Charles," the woman said with concern.

"This trainin' yer givin' her isn't working," Wolverine said. "Somethin's not right about it."

"What do you expect me to do?" asked Xavier. "I don't have all the answers this time. She's a girl with so much potential that she cannot possibly learn to get it. How do I teach her the words she can use?"

"This whole 'practice-makes-perfect' thing isn't helpin', Chuck," Logan said wisely.

Storm walked over and grabbed the anatomy and physiology book off the desk. "She needs to learn. Maybe she needs time at school. I could head down with her and have her enrolled? We can persuade the school to allow her special classes and let her socialize a bit, or as much as she can."

Xavier shook his head rapidly, and then thought about it a moment. "Just a while ago, she managed to say something to me without affecting me. Maybe it was the ear plugs, but if she can stay as… I hate the sound of this, but if she can stay as emotionless as possible, it just might work. Here, let's discuss how we think this will plan out."

* * *

><p>The mutants gathered in the lower levels, right in front of the Danger Room entrance. All had their uniforms on, from Ava's skimpy-but-necessary gray suit, to Alex's black and green leather jacket. Rivera was currently tripled, all wearing identical jackets, tight black leather tank tops, and spandex leggings; the only difference between the real Rivera and the clones was the appearance of a thin white belt with the X symbol styled within the buckle. Grant had his image inducer switched off, his golden skin covered by a simple sleeveless spandex suit with golden belt and boots, with the chest and shoulders of the top styled in yellow.<p>

"Where's Kris?" asked Rivera, wondering where he could be.

No one had an answer. "Last I heard, he was in his room. Probably playing that game he was bragging about earlier," Ava said, equally concerned.

Alex and Grant were about to run to look for him when Wolverine and Storm stepped into view, both dressed to the skin in their own uniforms. "Where's Sparky?" Logan asked with a grunt.

Ava told him where they thought he was, but Wolverine grew a smirk on his face when he realized that it might be a good thing he wasn't here.

"Ah, let the kid play his little game," Wolverine said, smirking. "His powers might have helped you out tonight."

The menacing grin on his face was apparent, and it completely unnerved the four X-Men who were present. "What's so special about tonight?" Alex finally asked, confident and scared at the same time.

"Tonight, you'll be fighting me," Wolverine said, enjoying the growing signs of horror on the kids' faces.

* * *

><p>Kris stood at the foot of the mountain, Brother and Monitor behind him. They were all three looking ahead, wondering how they were going to get through this. They had a plan, of course, and Monitor knew what kinds of things the game had in store for them as they tried to cross that volcano, but he swore they were prepared.<p>

He thought, anyways.

"Are we ready?" asked Brother.

Kris sighed. "As ready as I'm going to be. I'm so ready to get home!"

Monitor snapped his fingers, and with a brief yellow flash of light, a tiny tube appeared. Or at least, it looked like a tube. It was hovering over the ground, and it had three very small seats scrunched together uncomfortably. "I'm sorry I couldn't make it bigger. It was the best I could do with what limits my powers have here."

Brother was amazed. He ran up to the device, wondering what the heck the thing was. For some reason, it seemed to be able to hover over the ground with no support but its own power. "What is this thing?"

"It's a hovercraft," Kris explained. "It's what's going to get us over this mountain terrain fast enough to get to the volcano before the Phoenix starts her nightly rampage."

"This is incredible," the crazy man said in awe, his jaw practically hanging open. "I only wish that it looked more like a toad."

Both Kris and Monitor sighed. "Oh, quit it with the toad obsessions, all right? We are going to be stuck in this silver thing for the next hour or so, so can we just not talk about toads until after this is all over?"

The man with the lance nodded dejectedly. "All right. Whatever you say."

The three of them piled onto the hovercraft, barely having enough room to breathe. When they were sure they were going to be their most comfortable with the situation they were in, Monitor placed his hands on some sort of panel. His fingers glowed faintly with yellow light before they sped off, going a lot faster than Kris would have thought.

At this rate, they'd be up and over the mountain range and at the top of the volcano before they even knew the difference.

* * *

><p>"Come out, come out, wherever you are," the Canadian jeered, his nose in full action as he climbed through the artificial mountain range the simulation created.<p>

Grant could hear the man's taunts from behind the crevice he was squeezed into. It was one of the advantages of having a body like his, since he could get wherever he wanted.

The others would be rounding the corner at any moment, ready to ambush the seasoned mutant. If not for Storm being placed on their side, Wolverine probably would have taken them all out already. They were just lucky that the mutant wasn't allowed to use the adamantium claws.

Rivera sent a mental command to the clone stalking the mutant, telling Naya to watch his every move. Logan smirked as he sniffed the air, noticing the fake-girl's presence behind him.

"You know, Echo, your clones might not have a scent, but their uniforms do," Logan said as somersaulted with such agility that most would not have thought it possible. Naya instinctively copied his motions with the mimicking power and back-flipped away from the mutant at the same speed and skill level as the Canadian, both angling towards the same destination.

Rivera thought she might have had the upper hand for a moment, but when Naya suddenly crashed against an invisible wall, the clone vanished in a blast of white light. Rivera cursed as she realized that the projection was only so large, even though it looked like it went on forever in some places.

Alex took the opportunity of an arrogant Logan and fired a blast from his spot on the cliff-side, green energy knocking the mutant in the back. Alex momentarily thought that he might have had the upper hand for the moment, ready to fire another beam, when the mutant's skin healed before his very eyes.

"You should know as well as I do, Dynamo, that it's going to take more than that to get me," Logan smirked, using his claws to gouge out a piece of earth and then hurl it toward Alex's position. The energy manipulator ducked, dodging the attack.

"Hey, no claws!" Alex yelled, but Wolverine only chuckled.

"Not the same thing, kid," Logan answered, sucking the adamantium claws back into his hand.

Storm suddenly launched into the air, and Ava scowled as she joined the woman from the ground. "Smoggy, I swear, when I get the chance, I'm going to learn how to do that." All Storm could do was smile as the two mutants unleashed a barrage of blue-white and amaranth lightning at the feral mutant.

Logan, somehow, only managed to get hit once by the attacks, dodging every strike with inhuman agility; his increased healing factor caused him to recover quickly after that one strike.. Ava cursed as she tried a strong gust of wind, but by the time it reached the valley below, it fizzled out. Her wind control needed some serious work.

Grant, meanwhile, had been lying in wait. When Wolverine finally got near enough, Grant snaked out like a vine and entangled the man's limbs like a golden cord. Logan struggled against the bindings, but the stretchy mutant had him where he wanted him. Before too long, Grant had Wolverine's legs, arms, and body pinned, leaving only his face uncovered.

"Now Tempest! Dynamo!" Grant yelled, his head popping out from the bindings and looking at Logan's struggling form like a head on a snake.

"But, Aurum, what if we hit you!" Ava tried, but Grant shook his head.

"I can dodge Dynamo, and your lightning won't hurt me because of my immense malleability!"

Alex and Ava only looked at each other, before charging up their own attacks. Storm watched as the two attacks hit the form of Grant and Logan, creating a bright show of light. When everyone's eyes adjusted, Grant's body had formed a circle around Alex's attack to avoid it, and amaranth lightning charged through both figures, but the young mutant seemed to be unaffected.

It took several moments after the attack ended for Grant to ease up on the charred and electrocuted Logan. The healing factor was hard at work, healing away the burn marks on his back and repairing any damage from the electricity. Needless to say, he was battered, bruised, and somewhat harmed.

For the moment.

He suddenly ran forward, grabbing a spot on Grant's next and bringing the malleable mutant down like it was nothing.

"Grant!" Ava yelled, combining her energy with Alex's to fire on the feral mutant once more. Wolverine refracted it off of his claws, somehow still walking forward.

When Rivera and her triplets tried to move towards him, he suddenly turned, discharging the energy in the general direction of her. Most of the energy missed, but when the smoke cleared, Rivera was alone, lying in the field with minor injuries from the diverted and indirect attacks.

"Rivera!" yelled Alex, neither of the two remaining mutants wanting to give in when the cards were down. The energy converter stepped in the way of Ava, ready to use his own healing factor if he needed to.

Wolverine didn't say a word as he and the younger mutant exchanged blows. It was over too quickly, and Ava was upset that it wasn't in Alex's favor. She was shocked that her team had been taken down so easily.

The weather manipulator turned towards Storm. "Can't you do something? You're on our side!"

"Sorry, Tempest. But this was never my fight," Storm said with a calm expression. "What are you going to do, Ava? Keep on fighting?"

The girl thought for a moment, and when more lightning gathered around her hands, glowing with amaranth light, her answer was clear. "You bet I am."

Lightning charged through the air, arcing violently. Thunderclouds appeared overhead, clapping and booming to the battle. Logan did not seem phased.

"Come on, Thundercat," the man said, catching a bolt with his right claw and sending it flying into a cliff behind him. "You know it will take more than you can ever manage to take me down."

The girl felt the air charge around her, and for a split second, she thought she felt the energy in her hand turn solid, before it arced toward the enemy and enveloped him in amaranth light.

It cleared, but the mutant was still continuing his approach. Ava didn't know what to do, where to turn. It only took a moment before she realized that she was standing in a corner, and she had nowhere to go. If she could fly, she might be able to stop this, but she had tried to call on those tiny currents for so long that she knew it to be impossible without practice.

Logan suddenly ran forward, backing the girl into the wall. Electricity jumped haphazardly around her, but it never hit. The man raised a claw and sliced through the air.

"Simulation, end," the voice of the computer said, and Avalon opened her eyes to see Logan with his claws under her throat. She nearly jumped in fright, but she knew deep down that it was just part of the game.

"Your first mistake was trusting that your teammates would be safe if taken out," Logan said as he retracted his claws and pulled away his hands. "What would have happened if you had just left them there on the field?"

"Well, they were already taken down. What was I supposed to do?" Ava asked, believing that the best thing to do was to keep fighting.

"You were supposed to gather up the members of your team that could still fight, wounded or not," Storm explained. "The idea is not to take down every enemy, but to know when to quit and retreat. In a real combat situation, there might have been ample opportunities for you to escape. This could have been taken in an entirely different direction."

"But I couldn't just run away!" she explained. The other X-Men started to recover, coming forward with less serious injuries than they thought. Grant still looked woozy, Alex's uniform was in bad condition, and Rivera walked forward with light burns across her face. "They were hurt, and there would have been trouble getting everyone together enough to retreat."

"Our point is for you to learn when to fight and when to retreat," Logan said, waving off a hand. "Session dismissed."

* * *

><p>The hovercraft finally approached the volcano, and the air got hotter and hotter. Kris almost felt like battling this Phoenix without armor, since he was sweating in very embarrassing places.<p>

They angled toward the volcano, approaching quickly. It was then that Monitor began to breathe heavily, and before they knew it, the hovercraft began to slow and drop towards the ground.

Brother, thinking quicker than Kris would have thought him able, pointed to the ground and a toad about as large as a trampoline appeared underneath them. Where he got the toad, no one knew, but the hovercraft crashed right into the croaking toad's throat, making them bounce once and then hit the ground roughly, but not as rough as it could have been.

"Is everyone all right?" Brother asked as he untangled his legs from the seat and pulled himself out.

Kris nodded, glad that he was all right. And he would never admit that it was just because of Brother's toads. "I'm all right. Monitor, are you okay?"

The technopathic mutant breathed chaotically, trying to catch his lungs back up to his body. "I'm…so-sorry that…my powers…tire me out."

"It's not a problem. Don't worry about it. Now we just need to get up that volcano," Brother said, smiling. "Whenever you are ready, we'll go."

Monitor nodded, taking another five minutes to rest. Brother and Kris waited patiently, ready to go but neither saying a word. Once the man finally had enough courage to get up, the three began the long trek up the mountain.

They talked about the real world, neither caring if Brother was freaked out or something. The crazy man listened to the two mutants exchange stories about their lives, all while watching for anything to go wrong.

And they nearly missed it.

When they looked up, they hadn't heard the rumble, but it was obvious now. Huge boulders began tumbling down the side of the volcano, and if Kris hadn't thought about it, he would have assumed it was lava. But no, it was a teenage girl with short shiny black hair, red eyes, and black lipstick. She had on tight, thin red armor and was holding a book of some sort in her hand.

They didn't have time to think as the rocks continued their descent, and the three of them did their best to dodge the onslaught. Brother yanked Monitor out of the way of a smaller, speedy one in the nick of time, and when it finally stopped, the three of them were thankfully out of harm's way with only their clothes a little dusty.

The girl rose the book again, but it only took a moment for her to stop and consider it. Brother stepped into view to see what was happening, and his eyes widened.

"Sister?"

"Brother!"

The two immediately raced to each other, not caring how much terrain that had to traverse to get there. It was all Monitor and Kris could do to keep up.

The two, Kris guessed, siblings embraced. They exchanged pleasantries, and Sister had to apologize for using the Landslide spell on them. Kris just waved it off, saying that people tried to kill him daily.

"So why are you here, Sister?" asked Brother.

"Well, I was trying to get in here and stop the Phoenix, and when I saw that strange device flying towards here, I thought it was some sort of enemy and attacked you guys," Sister said, apologizing once more.

"So you'll help us stop it?" Monitor asked, still somewhat exhausted.

The girl nodded, pointing to her book of hex magic. "Of course. My powers can probably bind the Phoenix, if we're lucky."

Brother and Kris began to climb the side of the mountain again, following some trails and climbing up others. Before they could get too far, Sister called up to them.

"Guys, this cave leads to the Phoenix," she said, not having to raise her voice for them to hear her. The two males shared a look before dropping back down to the entrance of the cavern.

"Are you sure?" asked Brother, but his sibling nodded.

"Completely. Can't you feel the heat coming from inside?"

She was right. Hot air was practically flowing from the opening into the volcano, which told Kris that it was probably leading straight to the Phoenix and the heart of the volcano.

"Are you guys ready?" Monitor asked, looking at the opening with disgust.

It took a moment, but the three of them nodded and followed Monitor inside.

* * *

><p>"Where is Kris?" Ava asked when she got out of ear shot of the adults, her fury noticeable by all.<p>

"It's like what Logan said. He should have been there, but I'm certain that he won't get away with it," Rivera said before branching off from the group to head to the medical bay, where Dean was waiting to heal her wounds. Ava was thankfully unharmed, Grant just had a headache, and Alex's healing factor had countered any damage he had taken with half an hour or so.

"No matter what anyone says," Alex started, "that simulation was rough. How are we supposed to beat a guy who's older than Xavier with tons of experience, and yet has the body of a thirty-year-old?"

"I think that's the point. We weren't," Grant countered. "That exercise taught a much needed lesson, one that every fighter should know."

Ava scoffed. "Well, I need to get some air. Can one of you go and find Kris? I'd really like to give him a piece of my mind."

The two boys shared a look and then smiled. "We'll both go. I'm sure he's in his room somewhere."

Ava nodded, giving them a small smile before walking off and to her room. She opened the window and stood out on the balcony, her emotions creating a storm front far into the distance. She made lightning curl from the sea to the sky, decimating waves and giving any watching humans a good show. It was stress-relieving, and sometimes she felt she needed a little breather. She concentrated on dispelling the weather after twenty minutes of expelling torrential rains, dangerous gales, and thunderous lightning. It took her another twenty minutes before the storm finally disappeared and the night finally settled into clear skies.

She found it humorous that she could only create wind, rain, and clouds at such a large scale, but she couldn't create a simple gale-force wind to blow back Wolverine. Not that it would, but she still couldn't do it.

She crawled into bed, not bothering to take off her day clothes. She thought about the training exercise, wondering why her electricity had felt solid. That thought rested on her mind for a long while.

* * *

><p>Alex knocked lightly on Kris's door. "Hey, why didn't you go to Danger Room?" He called out, but there was no reply. He tried again, but still no reply.<p>

"Don't ignore us!" Grant tried. "That video game is not that worth it!"

A few more moments of banging and they finally decided to open it. The door was locked, of course.

Grant was a step ahead of Alex. He angled his hand flat on the ground and stretched carefully through the door, his fingers giving a faint _pop_ when they reformed on the other side. He twisted his hand upwards for a couple feet before his hands finally rested on the doorknob. It took him a moment to catch his bearings, but when he finally grabbed hold of the lock, he twisted it and unlocked the door.

"That is so cool," Alex said, smiling as Grant's hand slipped from under the door and popped back into place.

The room was, to no one's real surprise, empty. Alex looked around, not seeing anyone in the room. But Grant saw the television, which was on and running the game that the super-charging mutant just bought. The controller was lying on the chair, and it didn't look like it had been placed there upside-down like that.

The screen showed an image of a giant flaming bird flying over a castle, and it was hard not to be intimidated. It was still on the start screen, and it didn't look like it had been played for long.

"Where could he be?" asked Alex. "Did he sneak out the window?"

Grant peered over at it. "Unless he locked it from the outside, no."

Where in the world was he?

* * *

><p>It got hotter and hotter the farther they went. So hot that it almost felt like his skin was just burning, his hairs singing right off. More lights appeared from ahead, lighting the way.<p>

"Guys, I think it's up ahead!" Brother said, taking the lead with his sibling behind him.

Finally, they entered the large room, which was shaped like a tear drop made of hot rock. It was lit by the sheer magma down below, and the only patch of normalcy was the tiny opening where the lava flowed out when the volcano erupts.

A pathway wound around the room, but a large platform was jutting from the center. And in the center of that platform was a large orange and red crystal, pointed upward like a diamond. It was floating over the rock at about waist level, with a pillar of light supporting it.

Sister's eyes widened when she saw it. "Maybe we can seal it away before it even wakes up!"

"You're saying that's the Phoenix?" asked Kris. "That stone thing?"

She nodded. "I've seen something like it before, something from another time," explained Sister. "That is the Phoenix."

"Well, can't we just break it?" Brother asked, nearly running forward to do just that.

"No," Sister said. "There's no telling what that might do. We need to analyze the situation and think rationally."

Just then, there was a loud roar. It seemingly came from nowhere, but when they questioned its location, it was obvious that it had come from somewhere to their right.

Kris watched in horror as the source ran into the room, looking like a hulking giant. It had huge powerful muscles, thick legs, and a simple loincloth that didn't cover much. The beats had a thinly shaved head but he could tell that it was reddish-brown. The most prominent information about it was its one strangely shaped eye.

The Cyclops did not seem happy to see them here. It jerked forward, not bothering to say anything first. It used its massive strength to try and grab the whole group, but Brother managed to pull everyone out of the way in time.

"It's the Phoenix's day-time guardian!" explained Sister. "The Cyclops's only weakness is that eye up there."

Kris honestly had no way of knowing how to get up there. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," Brother said, holding up his lance at the ready.

Monitor snapped his fingers and his body suddenly erupted into yellow light, producing a new set of clean clothing. Kris looked down at himself, revealing that he was now wielding a long sword and shield, the shield with the emblem of a toad. "This is the most I can do. I will try to hold back and help in whatever way I can."

Brother and Kris ran forward, not caring if they had any risks or not. They branded their weapons as best they could, but the monster practically just swiped them away with one swing of his beefy arms. Brother rolled when he landed, ignoring the pain, and dashed forward with surprising speed, stabbing the one-eyed beast in the back of the leg, making it fall down.

Kris tried to aim for the eye with his sword, but the monster held up his arms and blocked it easily.

Sister, meanwhile, began to chant from her magic book, trying to buy them all some time. She eventually caused a tiny magma ball to burst from the surface of the fiery lake, and then made it fly towards the monster. It side-stepped, causing the ball to roll away and into the rock wall, where it melted into liquid once more.

The beast leapt forward and grabbed Kris, squeezing him around the middle. He did his best to struggle, but the grip only got tighter. His blade was crushed up against him, and the sword was cutting into the Cyclops's arm, but it didn't seem to notice.

Finally, in one fluid motion, Brother jumped forward and with every step he crawled up the monster's back and stabbed the creature in the eye. It let go of Kris immediately, dropping the boy to the ground in a clash of metal against the earth.

The monster went down, and it only took a moment before it began to fade away into the earth.

Kris didn't say a word. All he wanted to do was heave until he could feel his insides again. Brother and Sister celebrated, while Monitor took another breather.

The celebration, relaxation, and recovery didn't last long though. Without warning, the stone began to glow, and the room seemed to get even hotter. Sweat poured from our faces as we watched the gem morph and change and burn, eventually shifting into a large bird made of flames. The intensity was completely overwhelming. It stretched out its wings and screeched, and the four of them had to cover their ears to protect from the sound.

"You dare defeat the guardian?" a voice said, and they all knew it was the Phoenix. "Prepare to die!"

Flames gushed out from its wings, and Monitor waved his arms in defiance. A huge wall of stone and water appeared from nowhere, blocking the attack and dousing the flames. It didn't take long for them to start again, but it was a momentary annoyance for the bird. Kris could still tell he was exhausted.

Sister began to chant, her hex magic book glowing with blue light. Brother ran forward, not caring about the repercussions, and charged right into the bird with lance raised. Before the man got too close, the lance melted into a puddle on the ground, and Brother was saved from a direct hit by a last-minute toad.

Kris didn't know what to do. Sister's magic spell began to work, and the air seemed to get colder all of a sudden. Somehow, ice began to form on the walls and ground, but when the Phoenix roared, the room's ice instantly melted. She began to speak louder, hoping to outdo the creature, but her efforts were almost in vain.

"You cannot harm me, hex witch," the monster said calmly with a raspy voice. "Nothing you four can do can save you now. Humans will burn for their sins, their unreliable behavior, and their selfish and arrogance!"

The flames instantly began to dance, and it was all they could to dodge the attacks. Monitor tried to deflect the attacks by upsetting the programming codes, but it was upsetting his mental state every time he did it.

Kris only just got his shield up in time when a fireball crashed against it, but somehow, it had no effect. He pondered it a moment when he all of a sudden realized that it must be flame-resistant.

With that knowledge in mind, he got a bit bolder. He didn't hesitate to deflect fireballs, working his way towards the beast while ignoring the heat. He passed the point where Brother's lance had gotten before melting, and that gave him another drive to keep moving, holding the shield against his face.

He heard Monitor snap his fingers and suddenly, the shield morphed into full body armor. His sword grew longer, and his orange armor was biting off the flames as though they didn't exist.

He rushed forward, now able to move more freely. He sliced at the beast, and before he knew it, he managed to cut one of the monster's flaming talons. It roared in pain and fires exploded outward, knocking him backwards and literally causing his full suit of armor to disintegrate, while somehow not harming his body.

Monitor was to the point of no return now, and every time he snapped his fingers, only a small glow would emanate from it before fading out.

Sister's spell, meanwhile, was now managing to create full ice walls out of nothing, momentarily blocking the fire. They had a moment of peace before the creature could get through.

"Are you all right?" Brother asked, saddened by the loss of his lance and the pained look on Monitor's face.

The older man didn't know how to answer that question. He looked toward Kris, and grabbed his hand. "If you somehow manage to do this, you'll get free. I know you will." The boy nodded, his expression solemn. No one noticed that tiny spark that left Kris's hands and jumped to the other mutant's body, supercharging him.

Finally, the Phoenix broke through the wall and then screeched again. "You'll never get away and you'll never defeat me. You can neither run nor fight. It's over!"

The bird opened its beak and unleashed a flame so intense that no one had ever seen that kind of intensity before. Kris had a gut feeling, and stood before the attack, holding his arms out to take the full blow of the attack.

Sister and Brother gasped as the attack collided with him.

The heat lapped at Kris's skin, but all the energy of the fire was suddenly absorbed as heat and then showed itself as an orange aura that glowed throughout the entire chamber. The Phoenix was confused for a long moment as its attack was seemingly absorbed into the body of the boy.

"If I can't fight or run," Kris said, smiling fiercely, "then I will stay and protect."

The Phoenix blasted another fireball at him, but it was all absorbed into Sparkplug's body. Time after time, attack after attack, Kris Tanaka simply took the brunt of the blazes and sucked them into his own being.

Kris waited until the Phoenix seemed ready to drop out. Kris held out his hands and concentrated, unleashing a fireball so intense that the attack probably could have been like a second sun. The attack enveloped the Phoenix, and although it was a fiery being on its own, it could not stand such a force. Double the energy equals double the destruction.

The fiery bird slowly faded away, shouting obscenities and curses as it slowly disappeared forever.

When all was over, Kris's aura slowly faded over the next few moments. Sister and Brother thanked him for all that he had done, and Monitor simply stared at him in awe.

"I would stay for the goodbyes and the tearful new beginnings, but I really need to go," Kris said, giving both Brother and Sister a hug. "Monitor, are you ready?"

The man thought about it a moment. "You know, I think I'd like to stay here."

Kris's eyes widened. "What?"

"I think you supercharged me a few moments ago, Kris. I've never felt such power. This world could be anything I want it to be," explained Monitor, snapping his fingers just for effect and causing the magma to cool and harden into stone with yellow light. "I will help you get home, of course, but I think this is my new home now."

Monitor snapped his fingers, and with a yellow flash, his age suddenly dropped and he was easily Kris's age, with bright blond hair, blue eyes, and a youthful look. "See! I can be anything I want to be here!"

Kris wasn't sure that he liked that idea. It was actually starting to creep the boy out. "Can I just go home now?"

Monitor nodded. "Of course. Maybe we'll see each other again." The man-now, boy waved his hand and a portal of yellow energy appeared. Kris wasted no time in stepping through it, only pausing to watch Brother and Sister walk away.

* * *

><p>Alex and Grant were standing in the room, not understanding where Kris could have gone. They stared at the image on the screen change from the Phoenix flying over the city to a blond boy's face wearing a crown over a castle.<p>

Suddenly, with an orange flash, Kris jumped from the television and was so thankful to have landed on the bed. He cuddled it for a moment before he realized that Grant and Alex were watching in awe.

"I never want to play another video game again."

* * *

><p><strong>How'd you like my version of Middleverse as a whole? Was it good? Were the canon characters shown well? The only one that I didn't have a character for was Kurt, but there is a reference to him in Middleverse Part One. And I wasn't going to include that Danger Room bit, but decided that I needed some more team interaction, as well as some Logan screen-time. What did you think?<strong>

**Oh, and Dean is headed to school next chapter and will be more involved with the story. She's sort of been in a transmission mode of super-powerful and uncontrollable to super-powerful and semi-controllable. Now that she's the latter, I think she'll be ready for what I have in store for her in Turn of the Rouge.**


	13. Turn of the Rogue: Turn of the Mute

**This episode follows more closely to the plot of the original, but I think it is a great representation of Dean's powers, and I really hope they don't get too confusing! **

* * *

><p><strong><em>Turn of the Rogue:<em>**  
><strong><em>Turn of the Mute<em>**

Dean sat in class, perfectly still and quiet. Mr. Rodetski was going on about their field trip and although she wasn't completely caught up from all the work she missed, she was ready and looking forward to the trip.

Alex shot her a look from the front of the room, one that wondered if she was doing all right. For the first week since she joined regular classes, all of her friends tried to help her in any way and make sure that she doing all right. She insisted that she was doing just fine, but Alex was the only one who pressed it.

She nodded silently, not even daring to breathe loudly. She had tried very hard to get a handle on her powers, but like the professor says, it is a difficult process, but one that she could get through with time.

"All right, class," the earth science teacher said. "Why don't we do some work on the board? Ms. Rocca, please come up and write down some examples of rocks."

Her eyes flashed wide open, and for a moment, she thought that it might have been a mistake. When the class expectantly looked at her, some whispering about the strange girl who never opened her mouth, she finally just stood and carefully walked to the board.

Why would the teacher do this? Had Mr. Rodetski not heard about Xavier's strict instructions against this? She thought about protesting, but then thought that the kids around her would just ridicule her even more if she didn't just do the problem. Alex looked at her with concern, but after he saw the determined expression growing on her face, he just grinned and nodded in encouragement.

Dean turned to the board and began to write different types of rocks, like igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary. She then defined each, and then wrote out various examples of the three types, like limestone, pumice, and garnet. When she was done, the teacher looked at her with renewed satisfaction.

"Good job, Dean. Now, would you like to explain each one? Like what they look like or feel like?"

She shook her head immediately. A few of the kids in the room snickered, and the teacher pressed on.

"Oh surely you know some things? You've been here for the entire rock unit," he said, trying to encourage her in some ways to break her out of her shell.

She was about to open her mouth when Alex jumped up from his seat at the front of the class. "These are the three types of rocks. Sediment is formed from the layers of the earth, like soil and such. Igneous rocks, like pumice here, are often formed from volcanic activity, and metamorphic rock is any rock that changes due to pressure, heat, and movement." While the teacher congratulated him, he leaned closer to Dean and whispered, "If not for Grant tutoring me last night, I wouldn't have known any of that stuff."

She smiled, laughing somewhat. As soon as she did, Alex went wide-eyed and the two of them watched the plants in the windowsill suddenly bud, all while the laughter brought on an almost excitement in the air from all the students.

"Good job, Alex and Dean. You may step down and return to your seats," Mr. Rodetski said. He turned back to the board and asked for some other people to come up and expand on the basics that Alex had outlined.

Dean calmed herself down, taking deep silent breaths. She almost jumped when her cell phone made a slight vibration against her leg. She pulled it out and obscured it with her book so the teacher could not see.

It was from Alex. The message said, **"That was a close 1. U coz the laughing?"**

**"Yeah. And the flowers on the window,"** she quickly wrote. This was one of the only ways that she could communicate, and she was not about to send it in text language like Alex.

**"How? I no it was with ur voice, but how?"**

**"X says that laughing causes the serotonin levels in the brain to go sky high. That's the happy chemical."**

**"O, I get it. R u doing k?"**

**"Yeah. I'm good for now."**

She was about done with that message when the bell rang. "All right, class. Be ready for your field trip tomorrow! We're meeting here at six o'clock tomorrow morning to head to the Tapo Caves."

Alex and Dean walked out the class, ready to head home.

* * *

><p>Mystique sat at the desk, trying to get the stupid paperwork done. She finally made herself do it, since she chose to run the school anyway. If only she could have come up with a better cover to watch over the Xavier Institute.<p>

Suddenly, she felt her pen jump from her hand. Her eyes widened as her chair began to float into the air. She clattered to the ground in a heap rather ungracefully, but to set the record straight, she was surprised.

"How goes the recruitment of the Level Five girl?" the strong voice began. It almost made her want to quiver, but she fought past the sensation.

"It is hard to get our hands on her when Xavier already-"

The desk chair's support pole bent clean in half with anger. "You troublesome woman! You will succeed, or face the consequences." Just for emphasis, she could almost feel his fist clench and rip the chair into two mangled pieces. And then the man was gone.

Mystique sighed, stood up and dusted herself off, and then walked toward the window, beginning to plot in her mind how this was going to work.

* * *

><p>The warehouse was sparsely lit by a few sparse streetlamps and the dim reflection of the moon against the clouds. The entire area was filled with crates, industrial parts, and various construction vehicles, and every part of the warehouse smelled like fish from the nearby docks.<p>

A guard walked silently by, holding a flashlight in one hand and a police club in the other. Alex watched in silence as the man passed by, and once he knew it was clear, he silently stalked him. As soon as he was near enough, he tapped the man on the shoulder.

The guard turned around with a bewildered, frightened expression and met a cloud of knockout gas. It only took a moment for it to take effect, and Alex dragged the unconscious man out of the way of the main path.

He pulled up his walkie-talkie. "The North Perimeter is secure. Oh, and can I have fries with that?"

He could almost hear Ava's eyes rolling. "Shut up, Dynamo."

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the building, Dean was so excited that it was her first mission. She wanted to do really well to prove that she could handle it, and despite the exercises she had done with Logan, this was the first full team exercise the professor let her attend.

She watched with anticipation as the female guard with suspiciously white hair walked forward, holding a flashlight. Dean just held her mouth shut as the woman got close, and as soon as she was in earshot, the bio-warping mutant whispered in an expressionless voice, "Sleep."

The guard immediately conked out, falling to the ground in a heavy slumber. She smiled, knowing her powers had worked, and she could feel the confidence boosting. Such a simple word had caused such a simple reaction. The things she could do with if she were angry…

She put her mouth up to the microphone, and then wondered if this would still affect someone badly. She kept her emotions in check, her excitement down, and said, "South Perimeter is secure."

"Good job, Winter Rose! I'm proud," Ava said back, and as far as the Inuit girl could tell, she was not injured. "All right, listen up. We need to get in and out as quickly as we can. It should not take long to rescue the wounded worker, so let's hustle. Winter Rose, we're sending you the worker in case there's something that you can do to heal him."

Dean replied with a quick "Yes," and then waited outside.

On the inside of the building, all four remaining X-Men were huddled around a corner. Grant kept using his powers to peek from behind the wall at the security systems in place, which included a full array of ground-level motion sensors, a contingent of various turrets and booby traps, and a full camera system installed. Ava had them huddled against the only place not visible to the camera.

"All right, we need to deactivate the weapons systems," the field leader began.

Grant peaked ahead. "I can see a panel way up there, and I'm just the guy to reach it. If I had designed this place, I would have placed the main access panel there. It's very close to the wiring, and provides a central location for the"

"Aurum, can you tone down the science, please?" Rivera asked. "It's hard for us level-headed, average types to understand it."

He blushed, and not one of them knew how the boy with golden skin could even blush. "Sorry. My point is, I can stretch to it and the controls shouldn't be too hard to understand."

Ava clapped him on the back. "All right, good. Echo, can you get past the motion sensors if Aurum can't disable them from there?"

She cracked her knuckles. "I can sure try. But why can't Aurum just pick the worker up while he's stretched out of the way?"

Grant shrugged. "Sorry, but you'll have three bodies to carry him on your side. I'm not any stronger than the average person, and it's a lot harder for me to carry heavy things while I'm stretched out."

Rivera nodded. "Okay, sure. I can do it."

"Good," Ava said, nodding. She held out a hand and charged electricity through Kris's body, and the glowing aura appeared around him. "You and I are going to take out the cameras. But we have to be careful, so please, actually pay attention. We don't need a repeat of last time."

Kris blushed, his cheeks turning a rosy hue. "Yeah, that would not be good." No one wanted to remember the last team exercise, which was the first full-team practice since the Gameverse incident (which she really still hadn't forgiven him for). Let's just say that despite Kris's battle against a terrifying flaming bird, that DR session did not go so well; he was a little out of practice, needless to say.

"All right, Sparkplug. Let's get those cameras first so that we can get Aurum's body by."

Ava and Kris took turns leaning out of the corner, locating a nearby camera, and blasting them with very low-power bolts. Amaranth and orange energy soared across the room, lighting the walls and turning the warehouse various shades of color. Smoke from the shattered cameras was soon leaving through the small vents on the ceiling, and with another check from Grant, they were certain that they had gotten them all.

"Okay, Aurum, it's your turn," Ava said, trying to take command and do the right thing. She was remembering the lesson about fighting and retreating, and the worker lying in the center of the room, behind all those motion sensors and turrets, needed their help.

They watched in amazement as the malleable mutant firmly planted his feet on the ground and then began to stretch his upper body and legs out like a snake, weaving through the air above the sensors. He seemed to unravel like a hose until he was like a clothes-line across the whole warehouse, his shoulders, arm, and chest twisted around to face the control panel.

"That is so cool," Kris murmured.

The golden mutant began to furiously type on the keypad, using his big brain to analyze the pass code faster than anybody could. Ava was smiling when they heard the sound of a click, and almost like several computers shutting down.

But his facial expression was not one of happiness, unlike what the rest of the team was feeling. Grant furiously typed on the keypad, but it was clear that whatever he was trying to do wasn't going to work. Like a rubber band, the boy suddenly shot backwards and settled back into his normal shape, a solemn expression on his golden features.

"Well, I managed to shut down the weapons system's sensors, so they won't attack us out of the blue if they sense us, but I couldn't get the motion sensors from there. There must be some other control somewhere, but I don't see it anywhere in this room," Grant explained.

Ava clapped him on the back. "It's all good, Aurum. You did your best. Echo, do you think you can do it?"

The girl nodded, her green eyes flashing with the red light of the motion sensors. There was a brief flash of white light and the three Rivera's were all present. Naya and Chayce had differing expressions on their faces, but it seemed as though they both agreed they were tired. "Yeah, I think I can."

The three girls lined up on the edge of the lasers and got into what would be a cheerleading stunt position, with one girl in the center supported by the other on either side. The two on the bottom tossed the third into the air, making her fly over the first few lasers before sticking the landing in the center of a trio of lasers.

"I thought you did karate?" Kris asked, bewildered and amazed at her feat of athleticism.

The girl just shrugged. "I used to go gymnastics before karate."

And so began the most amazing display of agility, flexibility, and skill that any of them had ever seen. Her muscle mimicry powers were in full swing here, using them to do moves they had seen on television or in movies to move from one free square to the next. The lasers were never even near her, and as far as the motion sensors were concerned, nothing was going wrong here.

Well, until Kris's foot hit the very first one while he was celebrating.

All three of the other mutants stared at him in disbelief, and Ava looked like she was about to fry whatever was nearest to her. The alarms sounded and the guns pointed toward the source of the motion. Energy blasts from Ava and Kris, as well as the turrets, filled the room. There was no time to talk or to discuss anything as the turrets soon found all of them to be targets.

Grant ran in two stretched-out strides to meet up with Rivera and give her some cover with his body, growing into a screen over the tripling mutant. Blasts hit his golden skin, and some looked like they hurt, but most were just absorbed into the rubbery body.

Ava was conflicted, remembering the fight versus retreat lecture. She thought about what the mission's goal was and how everything was supposed to go. "Echo, grab the target! Fall back!"

Only a few more blasts were exchanged between the group and the machines before Echo delivered the paralyzed man out of the warehouse and the rest of the team joined her. As soon as the man was safe, they heard a voice say, "End simulation." The scenery faded into the great silver circular room.

"What happened?" Alex asked as he and Dean caught up with them. "We heard the commotion and ran to help."

"Well, someone decided to step into the motion sensors," Ava said, holding back her true fury and everyone could feel it. "First, he skips out on an important DR session, and then he does unspeakable things in the very next session, and now he screws up the mission."

Storm appeared, dressed up in her own guard's outfit, followed by Logan. She was carrying the Professor's wheelchair, and the triplets helped "the injured worker" into it.

"You didn't fail this mission, Tempest," Xavier said, almost on the verge of frowning. "Accidents are bound to happen, but you remembered your target and put that on the first of your mind. And you saved me without any further injuries. I consider that a success."

Ava looked like she was about to argue some more against Kris, but Logan clipped her on the back. "Hmm, I agree that Sparky could use some straightenin' up. Let's get him and you in some extra sessions together."

Both mutants groaned, but neither complained. It could have been a lot worse.

"All right, I do believe it is time for bed. And Alex, Dean, don't forget about your field trip in the morning."

"Yes, sir, Professor," Alex said, with Dean nodding in agreement.

* * *

><p>The earth science teacher was lecturing about the rules and regulations of the trip, all while helping students pack away their luggage. The morning was brisk, cold even. Everyone was wearing their warmest clothes since the trip would be up into the mountains.<p>

Alex and Dean both collectively groaned when they saw the appearance of Crystal, the head cheerleader, and Archie, the mutant thug who loved to cause as much trouble as possible. Somehow, both had been chosen for this trip, and neither X-Man was certain that they were even in the earth science class.

"Why do you think they are here?" asked Alex. Dean could only shrug.

"Maybe they need extra credit?" she scrawled out on her note pad.

"Yeah, maybe."

"All right, kids, if we're ready, let's head out!" the teacher said, and everyone started to pile on board. Afraid they were going to miss it, Alex and Dean ran toward the door, and arrived just in time. Mr. Rodetski signed them off as they boarded the bus.

Except every seat was occupied by at least one person, and the only two open seats were one next to Archie and the other next to Crystal. Alex and Dean shared a look, and he pointed toward the boy. "I'll sit next to him and try not to blast him into a splash on the wall. If we're lucky, he'll freeze into an ice sculpture while we're there."

Dean smiled and nodded, deciding that sitting next to the head cheerleader couldn't hurt more than sitting next to that stupid thug.

"See ya," he said as he plopped down next to the hydrokinetic wanna-be bad boy.

Dean sat carefully, putting her stuff down in the floorboard. Crystal, at first, didn't look at her, but looked like she was deep in thought.

"Hello," the girl said, surprising Dean very quickly. She may not have been in regular school classes for long, but she was certain that Crystal had already claimed that Dean wasn't good enough for the cheerleader crowd. "How are you?"

Dean didn't know if it was some sort of trick or not, but she wrote down her reply anyways, just as the bus began to pull out of the parking lot. "Good, I guess. You?"

That was when the truth hit the cheerleader. "Oh, you're that mute girl."

Dean practically snarled, but she held her voice back. She quickly scrawled, "Yeah. Got a problem with it?"

Crystal very quickly shook her head. "No, of course not. Personally, I think that you are a very pretty girl, and I like what you've done with your hair. Did you dye it?"

At first, the mutant didn't know what to say. She looked up and remembered that her hair had changed to a silvery-white color because it was getting colder with each passing day. "Yeah, I used this dye a while back, and supposedly, it gets whiter and whiter every day that it gets colder. It's supposed to return to red when it gets warmer." That was why they called her Winter Rose after all.

"Oh, that's some really cool stuff," Crystal said, reading the note pad quickly. "So are you actually mute, or is it something else?"

"For all intents and purposes, I am, but I'm not actually mute," she replied in her messy scrawl. When she didn't elaborate on why she wasn't really mute, Crystal must have taken the hint.

"Are you looking forward to this trip?" Dean just shrugged in reply. "Yeah, me neither. I mean, what's so exciting about looking for some rocks or something?"

Dean smiled, fighting off a giggle. She wrote quickly, "Nothing really. But it gets us out of the classroom."

"Yeah, I'd do anything to get out of that offi- I mean, classroom," the girl said, and as soon as she did, she practically slapped herself for slipping up in her speech. "I guess you aren't the only one who can't talk."

Dean didn't find it funny, and she refused to believe that Crystal had changed at all. She turned away and didn't look back, not bothering to listen to the head cheerleader any more.

* * *

><p>Alex ate his third bag of Doritos and offered a chip to the hydrokinetic mutant next to him, but Archie refused once again, just staring out into the snowstorm gathering around them.<p>

"I don't want any," the boy said, obviously half-asleep.

"It might wake you up," Alex offered, trying to be friendly, but Archie just glared at him.

"Does it really seem like I want to be woken up?" the boy grunted, and Alex shook his head.

"You know, if I really wanted to, I could easily blast you into the seat next to us," the energy converter said. "I'll be those jocks over there would really appreciate being covered in your… fluids."

That was the first comment that either of them had made about their mutations, and Alex glared at him, his fist dripping wet in the obscurity of the seat. "Is that a threat?"

"No, but you probably should have eaten a chip or two," Alex countered, keeping his cool. "I mean, do you even know how my powers work? The more I eat and drink, the more calories I have to use for my energy bolts." He decided to keep the healing factor to himself.

"So that's how it works," Archie said indifferently. "I had an argument with Astoria about how your powers actually worked. I thought you just summoned the energy out of nowhere."

"It has to come from somewhere," Alex answered, eating another chip. "So do you like Bayville?"

"I like terrorizing Bayville," he said automatically. "Do you know how many sewer drains I've overflowed just for the fun of it since I got into town? And public bathrooms?"

"Dude, that's gross!" Alex exclaimed. "You shouldn't do that!"

"Oh, yeah? Who's gonna make me? The police? You're little X-Geeks?" He exclaimed, his fist now turning into solid water. "I'd like to see you try."

As soon as he said it, Mr. Johnson called from the front of the bus, "It's starting to snow pretty hard. Everyone, please, be quiet and stay seated. I need to drive as safely as I can and I need no distractions."

Everyone groaned, and Archie just calmed down considerably, putting his legs in the aisle and leaning against the seat. Alex scooted closer to the window and he was glad he did, for at that exact moment, they began to tilt and slide in the direction of the cliff.

Everyone started to scream and panic, and no one knew how they were going to make it out of this.

Alex and Dean shared a look, and immediately, Alex opened the window and blasted the ground outside with a solid beam of energy. It took a second and the bus still slid, but it managed to counterbalance the effects of the slide. Finally, the bus landed back on the ground.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The teacher called out, "Is everyone okay?" Most nodded, and no one was hurt. Thankfully, no one was shouting that Alex had somehow saved the day with his energy, but Archie had a look of indifference. That boy had a temper, but he didn't really care about much.

"Now what?" asked one of the jocks.

"We head back," Mr. Rodetski said, and every single voice moaned. "Now, who wants to get out and push?"

Archie suddenly stood, his eyes flashing. "Mr. Rodetski, why don't we get out our snowmobiles and wait out the storm at the caves?"

The other students seemed to like that idea, so soon enough, the teacher agreed regretfully.

* * *

><p>The snowmobiles were in great condition. Most of everyone was ahead already, but Archie and Crystal were riding together and Alex and Dean were riding together. Needless to say, it got heated very quickly. And not in the warm way.<p>

Archie pointed at the other snowmobile. "I bet you can't get that piece of junk to the caves faster than us!" He suddenly blast forward, spraying the two mutants in the face with snow.

Dean couldn't protest as the energy converter said, "You're on!" They sped up and tried to keep up with the other vehicle, dodging trees, shrubs, and big snowfalls as much as possible. Dean had to clamp her mouth shut and she was biting her lip so hard to not scream that she was drawing blood. She knew that Alex would hear her, and that she could hurt him if she said anything at all.

Alex twisted around a curve, ending up on a higher level than the other vehicle. He smirked as he twisted the throttle and rushed over a hill at full blast, flying through the air for at least forty feet before landing upright and continuing forward at full speed. Archie and Crystal were somewhere behind, and they quickly sped up to at least match the other snowmobile.

They darted around trees and through certain trails, probably left by animals and other vehicles. The other two soon caught up, and they came upon a narrow pass that lead down a cliff to one side and had a cliff ringing it on the other.

Archie grinned as they became neck in neck, and much to both of their surprise, he slammed up against their bike and they nearly toppled over into the ravine. They managed to lean in time, and Alex finally stopped trying to catch up with them.

"Whoa," Alex said, surprised. "I had no idea that they were so violent."

"No kidding," Dean said, although not too calmly. When Alex began to heave, trying to catch breath that wasn't there, her eyes widened. "Um, heal from the damage that I have caused." It took a moment, but the boy finally started to breathe again, and she frowned in apology. He just simply nodded and put the vehicle in gear, heading back towards the caves.

"No trophies for second place," Archie said cockily when they finally arrived at the entrance, and Alex only grimaced at him.

* * *

><p>Xavier sat by the fire, watching the heat dance across the logs as if it was the only thing that mattered. Logan stood by him, carefully holding his arms against his chest.<p>

"Why not tell them the truth?" Wolverine said.

Xavier laced his hands together. "How do you tell students that their principal, whom they are supposed to respect, and their enemy are one and the same?"

"Look," Logan grumbled, chewing on a toothpick, "if there's anything those kids are used to doin, it's keepin their cool and keepin their secrets."

"I don't know."

"They'll deal with it. Trust me, you've taught them a lot."

As soon as he said it, the door opened and both Ava and Storm walked into the room. Ava had a very concerned look on her face, and Xavier wondered if the rain outside was due to one of the atmokinetic's emotions.

"There's trouble, Professor," Ava began. "The earth science class left this morning for their field trip, and there's a heavy blizzard brewing near the Tapo Caves!"

Xavier thought about the mutants he had sensed heading to the same area earlier, on the same bus. "You're right. Trouble _is_ brewing. Prep the X-Jet."

* * *

><p>Rodetski was talking about the metamorphic rock of the caverns, and how that the changes had occurred to make it that type of rock. Crystal was standing beside Dean, offering her advice for her wardrobe and what shoes to wear with what. After a moment or two, when the lecture seemed to wind down and the teacher began to walk to a different area, Crystal grabbed Dean's wrist.<p>

"Come on! There's something I want to show you!" Crystal said, smiling. Dean could only be dragged along, and Alex was too busy listening to the lecture to see it.

The cheerleader dragged her along, and she talked about how she had heard about this cool waterfall hidden somewhere in the caves. After about ten minutes of walking, they came upon this big long crack in the earth separating them from a really cool underground waterfall and pool on the other side.

Crystal said nothing as left Dean there and disappeared into the shadows, claiming that she would be back in a moment with something to show her.

That's when Alex finally showed up, holding a flashlight and wondering where Dean was. When he finally saw her, he almost felt like hugging her. "Well, I didn't see you leave until like the last second, and it took me a while to find you." She didn't have to explain anything for him to know that she was happy to see him. "Look at that pool! Should we go swimming? I'll bet its warm."

He walked forward and Dean only just caught his thick arm in time before he nearly toppled over into the crevice in the rock. "Whoa, thank you! That could have been bad!"

That's when Crystal finally showed back up, this time also with Archie behind her. Alex didn't trust the fact that either of them were there.

"Hey, I've got something to show you!" the cheerleader said, before she all of a sudden morphed into the body of Principal Darkholme.

"What?" Alex said, flabbergasted.

"Hello, Alex, Dean," the woman said, waving her arms. "Are you more surprised to see me…" Her body slowly began to morph again, revealing a woman with blue skin, red hair, and yellow eyes, with a revealing white uniform, "or me?" She broke into a laugh, and do all bad guys have to sound evil?

"Principal Darkholme? Who are you?" the boy asked, shocked.

"I like to call myself Mystique," the woman said. "And you have no idea what Xavier has been hiding from you. Let me fill you in! You X-Men are nothing but puppets for Charles Xavier. And I am a sharp blade cutting your strings, just so I can watch you fall!" With that last word, the blue-skinned shape-shifter shoved Alex off the ledge and into the darkness below.

"NO!" Dean yelled, and both Archie and Mystique cried out in pain as their ear drums popped. She knelt down at the edge and looked over, searching to see if he was okay. "Why did you do that?"

Every time she opened her mouth, something went wrong with their bodies, but Mystique was quickly recovering, somehow. Archie, however, ran at the nearest chance, and the woman just sneered.

"No matter," she said. "I no longer need him."

Dean was in tears. "Why?"

Mystique's eyes began to cry blood with every one of Dean's sobs, but she was recovering so quickly that she could ignore it. "I'm protecting you, dear. From Xavier's lies. All the other X-Men just want to hurt you."

"And you don't?" Dean yelled, popped Mystique's eardrum again. "What did you do to Crystal?"

"Let's just say that she missed the bus this morning," she said, morphing back into Crystal's smaller body. She extended a hand to the Inuit mutant. "Now, let's go back out there and break the tragic news."

"No!" she yelled, with enough fury that her voice quivered. Mystique screamed in so much pain that her ear drum burst into pieces, and even with a simple healing factor, it would take days to heal. "Sleep!" Instantly, the blue-skinned mutant fell back against the ground, hitting her head hard as she fell to the ground unconscious.

She hurried to the edge with a newfound reason to save them both. She looked down, finally seeing that Alex was holding onto the ledge many feet down. She calmed her voice and said, "Hang on! I'm gonna get down to you!"

It took her several minutes, but she simply didn't care anymore. Alex had, thankfully, pulled himself to the edge and was waiting to catch her when she fell the last three or four feet. She hugged his neck, thankful that he was all right. "Thank you! You are amazing! And scary! But more amazing!"

But it was short lived.

A giant rock suddenly fell from the top ledge, and they watched as the shape-shifter kicked the boulder down toward them, and Alex didn't even have time to blast it before Dean yanked them both off the ledge. Luckily enough, they crashed into the water down below, which was freezing, but no one could get that lucky to have warm water when they could have been plunging to their deaths.

The current pulled them through the narrow crack, and way up ahead a huge boulder was blocking the flow of the water, but they were being pulled straight for it. Alex aimed with both hands and fired dual beams, the green energy blasting a hole right through it and creating a passageway for both of them.

"Hang on to me!" Alex yelled, grabbing hold of a rock with all of his might. She held onto his shoulders tight as he used his brute strength to heave them both onto a ledge. They had a moment of relaxation before the ledge broke under them, and neither could help but scream. Dean knew what kind of effects it had on him, and she prayed that he would forgive her.

They collapsed into a heap on a small rock bridge not ten feet down, and she was thankful this time that they were on solid ground. But Alex was not so lucky, as he hit his head hard against it, and he was groaning against the snow. He had a slight green glow and she prayed that was his healing factor at work.

"Heal," she tried, not desperate enough to try anything more complicated. She couldn't tell if she was having any affect on him at all, and she began to tear up. "You're going to be okay!"

Alex grinned bravely, trying not to think too hard since his entire body may as well have been swimming in the coldest water in the universe. "Do you have any Doritos?"

She laughed, not caring if it hurt him somehow. It felt good to laugh, and she didn't think the increased serotonin, or whatever it was called, would affect him too badly. In fact, he seemed almost giddy, which made her want to laugh more.

She was about to laugh again, just to make him feel better, but it was then that they heard the growl of a wolf. It snarled, and she looked in the direction of its approach.

It was close. Dangerously close. She pulled Alex away from it, and the two-hundred twenty pound chunk of muscle was pretty heavy.

She thought of something, and wondered if it would work. "Revert!" She yelled, putting all of her focus on that wolf. There was a moment where she looked partially like Mystique, and partially like the wolf, but in the end, the wolf settled out. "Revert!" Dean tried again, but this time, it had no effect. "Revert back to mutant form!" Again, nothing.

The wolf growled before leaping through the air with its jaws wide open.

* * *

><p>The X-Jet careened through the air, sliding through the snow storm with relative ease. Wolverine and Xavier were at the controls, while Ava and Ororo were working hard on dispelling the weather around the ship. Ava was having so much trouble that she wasn't doing much good, but she had to try. Alex and Dean were down there, and they could be hurt.<p>

"Can't you make this storm go away?" Logan barked.

"We're trying," Ororo yelled. "We're Weather Witches, not snow plows!"

Ava smirked. "Well, Sunny, I prefer Storm Siren for myself, but whatever works for you."

"This is no time for jokes, Tempest," Storm yelled, almost angrily. "Focus!"

Xavier held onto his temples and expanded his mind. _Dean! Dean, where are you? We are on our way!_

_Professor! Alex is hurt, Mystique's after us, and we're stuck in a blizzard! I need help!_

It only took a moment for Xavier to discern their location, and he angled towards it very quickly, Wolverine following suit with his controls.

Dean couldn't risk it any more. She finally just shrieked with all her might, holding her hands over Alex's ears to perhaps protect him from her powers. The Mystique wolf yowled in pain and jerked backwards, nearly falling off of the rock bridge. Dean yelled again, this time willing her powers to make the wolf's leg break. She couldn't tell if it worked or not, but finally, the wolf howled and whimpered in pain and toppled off of the ledge. She watched with dread as she morphed into an eagle and flew away from the scene, unable to hear my calls over the wind.

"It's over," she muttered. She checked Alex's leg just to be sure that she didn't accidently break it when she yelled for it, but it didn't. She guessed that the ear-muffling actually did make a difference, a little anyways.

The jet flew into the area right in time, just as the rock bridge began to crack. She heard the sound and began to really fear what was going to happen when the sound of Wolverine grabbing both Alex and Dean from the bridge just before it collapsed.

Dean immediately found a spot to sit, and Alex was laid on the floor in the center of the jet, where Ava and Storm looked after his wounds. Professor and Logan flew them straight towards the jet.

"Dean, why don't you help to heal his wounds? I can help you find the right wording if you need to," Xavier said from the cockpit.

Dean nodded, crouching next to his chest. Ava had his head in her lap, and Storm was at his left side. Dean began to mutter softly what she wanted her powers to do, using the professor's voice in her head as a guide. Alex had a fracture on his skull from where he hit his head, several bruises and scrapes, and he was so near hypothermia that he was ice cold to the touch.

She used every word she could think of to heal every one of those conditions, and when she was finished, his healing factor didn't have much else to do on its own. Needless to say, Ava and Dean helped feed him a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos, and the added calories seemed to immediately help.

"Let's go home now," Dean said as calmly as she could, and when no one had an adverse reaction, she felt proud of herself.

* * *

><p>"It's just the same as lying to us," Rivera said, trying to keep the discussion logical. "We had a right to know who our principal really was."<p>

"Yeah, exactly," Ava agreed.

"I completely agree," Kris said. "What did you think we were going to do, go after her?"

"I think it's a fair assumption that we knew better than that," Grant added.

"It's like we were playing with fire and we didn't even know it," Ava finished.

Professor looked at Dean. "What do you think?"

The Inuit girl looked around, wondering if she could even speak up at all.

"You can say it," Grant assured. "I know that it won't hurt any of us. We trust you."

"With our lives," Alex added from the sofa of the living room of the mansion, gauze wrapped around his head.

She smiled, but kept a level answer. "I don't think there should be any more secrets between us. We're your X-Men, and I think we deserve to know the truth."

After a moment, Xavier smiled. "You're right. All of you. I must apologize for keeping this secret from you, but please understand that there are many challenges in your future. Secrets, elements of surprise; some you are ready to deal with, and some you are not. In the future, I will try to do better knowing which is which."

"Thanks, Professor," Ava said from her spot on the couch next to Alex.

"Now, can we all go to that new all-you-can-eat buffet in town?"

Ava laughed. "You might get an injury to your head, but you never change."

* * *

><p><strong>I think I have planned out the pace for Season One. I think Chapter 21-22 will be the conclusion to "Cauldron." I don't think 22 or so chapters for 13 episodes is too bad, and I will try to not split up the chapters as much from here on out. It just means slower updates, so what do you think?<strong>


	14. SpykeCam: BeastCam

**I actually was considering skipping this episode because I honestly didn't like it in the original, but oh well. I'm going to try to make it different this time, and I hope you will like!**

**Shout-Outs: To LookHowUniqueandWittyIAm for creating Lily! She's a great character!**

* * *

><p><em><strong>SpykeCam:<strong>_  
><em><strong>BeastCam<strong>_

The figure sniffed the air, knowing that she was close. It only took her a moment to realize where she was, and she smirked when she saw the water tower nearby. What an excellent way to scout the territory!

She walked up to the fence, wondering who they were kidding when they put the "NO ADMITTANCE" sign up. She thought that if anyone was going to get in, they could get in easily. So what was the point of having a rule against it?

A minor tingle ran down her arm, a pain she was used to. Her hand shifted and changed before her eyes, her fingers twisting and contorting until there was a large, animal-like claw in its place. She smiled at the appearance of her "inner-self," and then slashed through the chain link fence as though it were made of paper. Her claw shifted back into a hand, and then she headed into the area, ready to climb up the ladder to the top of the tower.

* * *

><p>Grant stared down at the paper on his desk, waiting for the bell to ring so that he could hurry off to meet the others for lunch. He had already finished his work, and the other students around him were working so hard on their assignments that it almost made him want to laugh.<p>

The bell finally rang, and he could hear the collective sigh of relief. He got up and placed his books in his backpack, and was almost out the door when the teacher called out for him.

"Mr. Forsythe, can we talk for a moment?"

He walked up to the social science teacher. "Of course, Mr. V. What do you need?"

"I just wanted to congratulate you on your extra credit project on the Star Wars Program," the teacher said as he pulled out an almost dated digital video camera from the drawer of his desk. "I was wondering if you'd be interested in another project."

"Thanks. And I'd love to," Grant said truthfully, feeling as though it would give him something to do afterschool besides regular homework and DR sessions.

"It's a film project, and the county board wants every school to submit one student and his or her film in a festival. The theme of your project can be anything important to you, but the overall theme of the festival is current events," explained Mr. V as he handed the camcorder to Grant. "The project will be due at the end of the week, and I expect great things from you."

Grant thanked him and left to go play with the old model camcorder, zooming in and out over the city. It may have been old, but it was sophisticated enough to see the Institute on the horizon, and he could even zoom in on the gates. He was surprised to see Logan riding in on his motorcycle. "The Institute? Wow, it actually has the auto-zoom feature, which can really focus in on the photons-"

"Grant, quit with the nerd talk!" said a voice as someone clapped him on the shoulder. The malleable teen jumped, his neck and head stretching out for a second before he remembered where he was and retracted.

"Kris! Don't do that!" he exclaimed as he eyed the orange-haired mutant behind him. "Someone might see me stretch!"

"Sorry," Kris said sheepishly. "But come on! You have to see this! If we don't hurry, you'll miss it!"

* * *

><p>The girl's eyebrows rose. Now was her chance to show her father that she could handle anything he asked her to do. She put away her binoculars after seeing two of the Xavier brats talking over a camera. A camera that just glimpsed the location of the mansion and of Wolverine.<p>

She morphed into full beast mode for just a moment, the pain shooting up her back as her spine and shoulders twisted into an almost hunch-back shape. Her hands and feet elongated and contorted into claws and paws. She felt the familiar itching feeling as the hair grew all over, providing a thin layer of heat on the fall day. She felt her eyes and ears change along with her face.

She stretched out her neck, popping a loose joint and let her healing factor fix the rest. It only took a moment before she smirked and then jumped from the top of the tower, crashing into the ground below. But like some animals, she got up without a hitch.

* * *

><p>"Look! That girl Taryn, the one from the soccer team, is planning on asking Alex out! And we all know how he is with girls!"<p>

Grant's interest was piqued, and he clipped his head around and pointed the camera. Alex was at his locker about halfway down the hall, probably getting his books for the next class. Taryn, a cute brunette with long hair, was slowly approaching him, probably trying to get up the courage to ask.

"Should we be doing this?" asked Grant, nervous. "It feels…dirty. Sleazy."

Kris clapped him on the back. "Nonsense. It'll be great."

The other wasn't so sure, but he pointed the camera anyways. He hit the audio-amplifying button, and with a little tweaking, they could hear the coming conversation over the normal hallway buzz.

"Hey, Alex," the girl said, fiddling with her hair. "How are you?"

Alex was taken aback, and Kris was smiling from behind the camera. "Oh, um, hi…Taryn. I'm fine. You?"

"I'm fine now," Taryn began, "but I won't be fine tomorrow night."

The boy really didn't know what to think, and had not fully caught on yet at all. "Why not?"

The girl smiled brightly. "Well, I've got no one to spend it with."

"See!" the supercharging mutant exclaimed, and Grant had to hush him.

Alex rubbed the back of his neck with nerves, his blush growing. "Well that's too bad."

Taryn moved closer to him, and the two boys watched Grant step back a step. "I was actually hoping that you could be my company tomorrow, Alex. Do you want to come over and hang out after school?"

The blond-haired boy was blushing so hard that the walls were starting to catch the red glow from his cheeks. "Um…I'll have to…um…check first."

"Of course!" Taryn said, smiling and moving off. "I will see you then!"

Grant pulled away from the other hallway, turning the camera off. Kris was excited, practically giddy.

"I'm glad he's got a date, but that was so fun to watch," Kris said, almost to the point of laughter. "That big guy with the big appetite could fight anything head on, but he really can't talk to a girl."

"Oh, it wasn't that bad," Grant tried.

"What wasn't that bad?" asked a voice from behind, and when he turned around, they met the happy face of Alex.

Kris and Grant nervously looked at each other and said, "Nothing much," at the same time.

The other boy just looked at them like they were crazy. "Do either of you need a ride home? I think Ava's about to leave."

Kris nodded. "Yeah, I do."

Grant shook his head, pointing to the camera. "No, I think I want to walk home and see about some shots for the video project Mr. V assigned me."

"Suit yourself and good luck," Alex said, smiling as he headed toward the parking lot with the Asian mutant.

* * *

><p>The malleable mutant hurried outside, pointing his video recorder at any interesting people. He caught a couple making out behind a bush, a few skateboarders doing tricks, and one of the teachers taking a nap in their car. People were laughing and carrying on, catching up after a long day of schoolwork.<p>

He continued into the city, keeping his eyes peeled for anything out of the normal. He was busy trying to figure out a theme for his project, and it hit him almost immediately.

"Normal! That's it!" he exclaimed into the empty street. Or so he thought.

Suddenly, a tall black-haired girl ran up and grabbed the camera right out of Grant's hands. She sped off, not caring if she ran through traffic or not, and nearly got ran over in the process. Twice.

* * *

><p>The girl hunkered down below someone's stoop, looking through the camera footage. She rewound the tape and found exactly what she was looking for. She saw the camera do a panning shot of the town, and then turn towards a large mansion in the background. It focused in and she listened to the boy explain that it was the Institute, and some nutty thing about photons. Nerd.<p>

* * *

><p>"Hey! Give that back!" Grant said, running after her. He was tempted to use his powers to get it back somehow, but in the middle of the city? That wouldn't help at all.<p>

He rounded the corner and there it was. The camera was sitting on the sidewalk, waiting for anyone to take it. He picked it up, worried that it might be broken, and then looked around for the girl. As far as he could tell, she was gone.

He pocketed the camera, deciding to head back to the Institute.

Grant awoke to the sound of his alarm at six thirty sharp. He got up and stretched, not paying attention as his arms and neck went in every direction imaginable for only a split second, and then they recoiled like rubber bands.

He walked over to the desk, taking care of some last minute homework, and the advanced algebra danced in his groggy head until someone knocked at the door at seven.

"Hey, Grant," Storm began. "Breakfast is in ten." She looked down and saw the camera. "And what's this?"

"My history teacher assigned it to me as an extra project. I'm supposed to film something that's important to me," he explained.

Storm smiled. "Well, just make sure that you are careful. We don't want anyone finding out any secrets."

Grant nodded. "Don't worry, Miss Ororo. I'll be careful."

She smiled and left the room, leaving him to change clothes and get ready for breakfast.

* * *

><p>Ava took one look at the brown sweater and declared it a no. She pulled up the pink camisole and almost put it on, but it was clear that it wasn't going to work. She wondered about the blue one, and even the green one, but neither seemed to work.<p>

"Oh, I know! The purple." She pulled it out of the pile of tops and tested it out, and was almost to the point of putting it on when she looked over and saw something she did not expect to see.

"Grant," she began, her eyes and hands beginning to flash with amaranth light, "if you don't get out of my sight right now, that camera will be so far up your-"

He shut off the camera of his own accord, closing the door quickly before she could fry him and prove her threat to be accurate.

"Seriously?" he asked himself as he turned off the camera. "Am I really that gross? Kris must have gotten to me."

* * *

><p>The girl approached the clump of trees, hoping that she had successfully gotten the right information. She didn't even get to the woods before a voice barked, "Lily! Did you find him?"<p>

She smiled. "Yes, Daddy. The Institute is a giant mansion on the east side of the city. You really can't miss it."

"And you're sure he's there?" the voice growled.

Lily nodded. "Yes, I am. I found one of Xavier's brats, and he practically led me right to it with his camera."

The man came out from behind the trees, his too long dirty blond hair looking like he hadn't washed it in days. Lily was lucky that hygiene wasn't inherited, but that dark look on his eyes like a predator certainly was. "Good. Come on."

"Of course."

* * *

><p>Grant stepped outside the Institute, carrying his trusty camcorder. He wondered if the morning training simulations with Logan were happening, and thankfully, they were.<p>

Rivera, with her two clones, were going over martial arts moves that Logan had mastered over the years, and Rivera was teaching him with a few moves of her own from her karate days.

"All right, this almost isn't fair," Logan said as she perfectly mimicked his move once more, her muscle mimicry power working to her advantage. "How's about we spar? I won't use the claws, I promise."

Rivera shrugged, Chayce agreeing and Maya disagreeing. To Grant's best knowledge about the mental connection between the three Riveras, the main Rivera was the deciding vote between the always opposite Chayce and Maya. It was almost like Rivera's two external sides were representations of her inner morality and conscience, and it was almost Freudian psychology right down to the letter. She put people who had multiple personality syndrome on the proverbial pedestal, so they say.

The beginning of the fight pulled him out of his geek rant and into full concentration on the fight. He watched as the two (or is it four?) mutants traded blows, Logan never letting Rivera's tripling powers get ahead of him. Besides that, the three girls could match every move he made, but he was far stronger on a physical level, and he had countless years of experience.

As Grant weighed the pros and cons between the two sides, ultimately it came down to whoever could deal a finishing blow, and if Logan could use the claws, he would probably have her beaten already.

The banter between the two combatants was almost as interesting as the "mirror" fight itself, as the main Rivera and the Canadian mutant talked back and forth, jeering and snapping at each other with snarky remarks, but it was all in good fun.

Rivera unleashed an onslaught of karate kicks and punches, forcing Logan back. Chayce and Maya were at the ready to stop his counter-attacks, and Rivera kept pushing him backward.

Out of nowhere, there was a growl, and to the untrained ear, it might have come from Logan. But all of them knew something was wrong, and Rivera just gasped.

"Was that a wild animal?" she asked.

Logan shook his head, a deep guttural growl coming from within. "No. It's Sabretooth!"

Without warning, a huge burly man, taller and more heavily built than Logan, rushed out from the trees. He had claws like some kind of feral animal, and his fierce growls were intimidating all of them.

"That's that guy that Alex and Kris fought!" Rivera exclaimed.

But he wasn't alone this time, to everyone's surprise. A girl with black hair and a smug expression on her face jumped from a tree and Grant knew her immediately.

"Hey, you're the one who tried to steal the camera!" he said, still rolling the tape.

She said nothing as her appearance began to change, and suddenly, she was a sleek, seven-foot tall, beast of a girl with wolfish features and claws that looked to be sharper than Sabretooth's. She growled and the two beast-like mutants rushed for Logan like crazed animals.

Despite Logan's claws and battle-stance, the two mutants working together quickly overtook him and soon enough, they were on the ground, trying to hold him down.

Grant sat the camera down and rushed over to help. He wrapped his stretchy arms around the animalistic man and yanked as hard as he could, which was only a nuisance to him because he slashed his claws across the soft skin and made Grant yelp away.

The three Rivera's rushed forward and tackled the girl, pulling her off. Without Sabretooth's added help form the girl, Logan kicked his long-time rival off of him and into a nearby tree.

"You're pathetic, Victor. You let your daughter try to fight me?" Logan asked, bearing his claws.

Sabretooth made no comment, just a simple grunt with a fierce look of anger. As soon as he got up, Wolverine sped forward and stabbed right through the man's gut, and into the nearby tree.

"NO!" the girl yelled, suddenly overpowering the three girls and slashing through one clone's gut. Rivera exhaled in pain and moaned, the three of them collapsing onto the ground. With a white flash, the two clones disappeared and Rivera was left on the ground.

The girl, obviously crazed, rushed forward with her powerful beast body and slammed into the Canadian mutant, knocking him off of Sabretooth. The mutant's healing factor came into effect and the six wounds from the adamantium claws began to recover.

Worried about Rivera, Grant tried to stretch toward Sabretooth to bind him to the tree, despite his bleeding wound, but the mutant simply grabbed both arms and used his impressive strength to swing him around like a rope and into a tree, incapacitating him.

Sabretooth and the mysterious girl who was most likely Sabretooth's daughter continued their walk towards Logan. The mutant heard his teammates join them in full uniforms, a light breeze from Storm's powers enveloping the area. "Back off. He's mine!"

Sabretooth rushed him, but Wolverine traded blows very quickly. They began to grapple, their respective claws out, when static electricity began to fill the air.

"No! This is not the place for your private war!" the woman yelled, air swirling into a makeshift cloud. A bolt of powerful white blue electricity slammed against the blond-haired mutant, but it could only phase him for a moment. She tried another, but the man pushed through it and kept moving.

His daughter rushed the other members of the team, but a quick blast of green energy from Alex's hand blasted her back, but only for a moment.

"Geez," Kris said, dodging a swipe from the beast-girl. "What's the deal with animal-like mutants? Do they ever stop coming?"

Ava summoned the most ferocious gust of wind she could, a near vortex coming with a lot of her concentration. The tall beast form girl only held it off for a mere moment before she powered through it, nearly slashing the Storm Siren with her claws. The wind subsided as she jumped backwards to evade the girl.

Dean hurried over to Rivera, who was still collapsed on the ground. She looked to be unconscious, and Dean realized that she must have gone into shock. The collective mind must have given her the pain that her clone had felt, and since nothing was wrong with the main Rivera's body, she wasn't actually wounded. Just in a lot of pain.

"Ease the nerves," she commanded to her powers, also adding a few major nerve names along the way. If not for her advanced Anatomy course with Xavier, she would never have come this far. Almost instantly, Rivera's expression seemed to lighten.

Grant was slowly recovering, glad that Rivera was going to be all right. Dean offered a check-up, but he shook his head, opting to fight. It was only a cut on his arm and a light knot on his head.

He joined just as Storm, Alex, Ava, and Kris fired a combined attack on Sabretooth and the girl. Green, orange, amaranth, and white blue energy seemed to combine into one blast that slammed against both mutants and knocked them to the ground.

Sabretooth knew it was over, his expression failing. He looked to his daughter and pointed towards the woods. "This isn't over, Logan!" Both mutants dashed towards the woods like only animals could, and Logan joined them without another thought.

"Wolverine!" Storm yelled after him, landing lightly on the ground. "No!"

Logan followed the scent, ripping through the underbrush at a speed only adamantium claws could provide. To Wolverine's chagrin, the trail ended at a small creek, and their scents were gone. They could have left the water anywhere. He growled, and almost felt like chopping an entire forest down.

* * *

><p>With surprising swiftness, Dean healed Grant to the best of her ability. It was still sore, and the cuts would still scab, but she managed to speed up the process greatly and stop the immediate danger. And his head healed without a hitch, thankfully.<p>

Grant decided to apologize to Xavier and Logan. After all, as he figured out, it was his fault that Sabretooth and his daughter even knew where the Institute was. He had led the girl right to them, and she had relayed the message to her father.

He headed straight to Xavier's office, knowing that it was the right thing to do. As he got to the door, he heard raised voices. Curiosity killed the mutant teenager, Grant guessed.

"But Xavier, you have no idea what he's put me through!"

"Yes, Logan. I do. I've been inside your mind and I have seen the things he has done to you in the past. Although the beginnings of the rivalry are unclear, I have seen what the two of you have done to each other over the years," Xavier said with a warm and wise tone. "But I do not appreciate the involvement of our students in your private affairs."

"But it's not like I had a choice! Sabretooth just showed up! How was I supposed to know? And how do I make 'em go away? They're heroes, Xavier. They'll do what's right, even if it kills 'em."

Grant could almost see Xavier shift in his seat. "I agree. And I respect them for that. But that does not mean that you should directly involve them with this kind of matter. Sabretooth is dangerous, Logan, as well you know. And his daughter, as unexpected as that was, has proven to be just as formidable. I only ask that you be more careful with the children in the future."

Logan was fuming, that much Grant could tell by the labored breathing. Wolverine sighed. "Fine. But you know he'll be back."

"Well, he won't come here again. He knows that the automated defenses will detect him," Xavier said.

"Hmm. That's the problem. He'll want to get me away from here, alone. And that means…"

Xavier's eyes widened. "He'll need a hostage."

"Got it in one," the temperamental mutant said.

"That means that all of the students are in danger," Xavier said, thinking over the options. "Why don't you and Storm do a patrol? I would trust you to include students, but given the danger of Sabretooth and his daughter, I think we should keep it as far from them as possible. I would rather avoid another injury like Rivera's again."

"Yeah, all right. How is Echo anyway?"

"She's doing much better," explained Xavier. "Dean has been working with her for the last couple hours, trying to ease the pain and transition. Her clone was wounded, and when it is summoned again, it will be as though it never happened, but Rivera still has to get over shock."

Grant pulled away, worried now. He considered going in there, but he was suddenly struck with an idea. He grabbed the camera from his backpack and went upstairs.

* * *

><p>"No freaking way!" Lily said, yelling. She was still pulling bits of char from her hair. "You're not seriously going to leave me behind when you leave!"<p>

Sabretooth nodded, using one nail to dig grime out of another. "Boss's orders."

Lily shuddered, but she didn't let her father see. "I don't see why you let him boss you around."

"He's," her father began, thinking it over, "done a lot for me in the past few years."

In truth, she could see why in every way. But she never wanted to admit that she was afraid of that stupid megalomaniac. "So why am I staying here?"

Sabretooth leaned in and whispered the answer in her ear.

* * *

><p>"So why am I out here again?" Ava asked, watching Grant turn on his camera. She was suspicious of his motives, and Kris seemed to be in on it.<p>

"I need you and Kris to do some arguing for me. You think you can do that? I need it to be as loud as possible."

Ava smiled mischievously. "Oh, I can do that easily." She turned toward the orange-haired mutant. "How many times is it gonna take before you figure out the Danger Room?"

"Does it matter?" Kris asked, his smile widening. "I mean, aren't all the sessions broken anyway with you as the leader?"

She glared at him, and although they both thought it was not a real argument, that was a low blow. "Well, maybe if I had better team-mates, I could lead better. I don't think it's my fault that there are IDIOTS who don't pay attention."

Kris grinned. "Oh, we pay attention all right. Just not on the goals." She looked at him, confused. "By the way, have I ever told you how much I love your uniform?"

Her eyes flashed. "Oh, you really are in for it now, you good-for-nothing twerp! There's an explanation for how much skin I have to show! My skin needs more contact with the air for better control of my powers."

"So are you looking to…increase that control anytime soon?"

Before Ava could retort, someone growled, and Grant turned the camera to see Sabretooth and his daughter rush from the woods. Grant jumped in surprise as he was rushed first, and grabbed him.

"You're mine!" he yelled, lugging the malleable mutant overhead.

Grant smiled. "I've been expecting you." As he said it, his body suddenly turned into an almost web-like array, draping itself around the beastly mutant. Before too long, his entire body was wrapped around the enemy. "There's no use struggling. My body is like a wet rag on yours."

The beast-girl tried to swipe the stretching mutant away from her struggling father, but Ava had different plans. "Oh, no you don't!" Ava yelled, firing a bolt of amaranth lightning and knocking the opponent backwards. "Aurum, how long can you hold him?" She asked, commanding the weather to blast another bolt at the animal-like girl.

He struggled against Sabretooth's massively inhuman strength. "Not long."

"Tempest, shock me!" Kris yelled as the animal-girl approached him. Before Ava could manage that, the girl dashed with surprising speed and grabbed Kris. An orange glow surrounded him, somehow, surprising the girl. The energy flowed into her, supercharging her powers.

For a split-second, she went all animal and shifted into a canine completely, losing all form of human sense. Once the contact ended, the girl immediately shifted back to her animal-like form, growling at the energy charging mutant.

"How'd you do that?" the girl demanded.

Kris could only shrug as Ava blasted him with electricity. He began his own onslaught, using borrowed power to fire at the enemy. The girl dodged his attacks, using inhuman speed to dart past orange bolts and twist through trees.

Suddenly, teeth gripped into Grant's golden flesh and he lost focus and let go. His body retracted to normal and Sabretooth grabbed him and flung him surprisingly far, right through a brush pile.

"Pickin' on kids, Creed?" yelled a gruff voice. To the kids' relief, Wolverine jumped out of the trees, claws blazing and orange uniform glinting. "Big mistake!" The man leapt forward, slamming the mutant into the ground, claws pointed toward the neck.

"Yeah? Why?" the man asked incredulously, practically spitting into Wolverine's face.

"'Cause it really ticks me off!" Wolverine yelled, picking up the mutant and hurling him into a tree, where Dean was waiting. Grant had planned it from the start.

"Sleep," the biological manipulator whispered, only having an effect on Victor. Grant nodded in victory when the man fell completely asleep, and she made sure that he wouldn't wake up for another few hours with another near-silent command.

"No!" the girl yelled.

Logan nearly chopped her head off, but both Ava and Grant held him back. "Get offa me! She's just as dangerous as he is!"

"I'm not disagreeing, but I think we should let her go. For now," tried Grant.

Ava tried to think of a good offer. "If we are not right, we'll drive you to get revenge on her ourselves."

"But why?" Logan asked.

Ava caught his eye. "Has she done anything to you? Personally, I mean. Do you have any reason to not think she was just doing what her father wanted her to do?"

"Well, no," Logan tried, "but we'd be fools to trust her."

"And I don't," Grant added. "That doesn't make hurting her right, just because of who her father is."

The girl looked from the X-Men to her father, and then back to Ava, her mind in full bewilderment. "You're…letting me go?"

Ava nodded. "Yes. But consider this your only shot. Xavier would have wanted us to do this."

She gave one long look to her unconscious father, lying near Dean. "Fine. I would have beaten you losers anyways." And with that last remark, she was gone, disappearing into the trees as quickly as she had come.

Kris looked at Ava and Grant, flabbergasted. "Are you really letting her go?"

They both nodded. "It's the right thing to do."

"For now," Logan said, turning towards the field leader. "You planned this, didn't you?"

Ava shook her head. "No. It was all Aurum's idea."

Grant was about to apologize, but the Canadian mutant shook his head. "You had a good strategy, kid, but DO NOT DO SOMETHING THAT CRAZY AGAIN! YOU COULD HAVE ALL BEEN KILLED!"

"Thanks," the stretchy boy said, cheeks red. "And we won't do it again."

"I know you won't," Logan said. "Because you're all grounded."

Kris, Ava, and Grant groaned, while Dean had such a sour look on her face it may as well have been a groan.

"So what's gonna happen to Sabretooth now?" asked Ava as Logan pulled the beastly man up over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes. "Haven't you two been duking it out over the years?"

"Yeah," Logan answered. "Don't worry, he'll get a nice cooling-off period."

* * *

><p>While Jade and Astoria were eating a gross Chinese take-out dinner, Archie and Tristan were sitting there, playing a game of cards. It was a surprisingly quiet night for the Brotherhood, with homework lazily forgotten and arguments that haven't begun.<p>

"Read 'em and weep," the hydrokinetic said, laying down his three of a kind, Aces high. He made a grab for the deck, but Tristan shot him with a quick, barely hot beam of energy.

"Not so fast," Tristan said, grinning mischievously. He laid down his royal flush, and Archie went into uproar.

"Oh, come on! That's the third big play you've gotten in a row! You must be cheating somehow!"

Tristan raised an eyebrow. "Prove it."

Archie was about to comment when Jade whistled from the lopsided kitchen table. "Guys, let's not argue. I swear, I do not want to hear it from any of you tonight."

"What? Did you start your period?" Archie asked, and both girls were almost shocked he went that far. Even Tristan was amazed.

Jade snapped her fingers, yellow energy enveloping him. The others laughed as Archie began to move in slow-motion, trying to flip them all off as they continued to laugh at him.

"That'll teach you to make period jokes," Jade said, feeling extremely satisfied with herself.

Without warning, a door slammed open. Everyone went on alert, and even the energy surrounding Archie went away. "What's going on? Is Mystique pissed again?"

To their surprise, a black-haired girl with dark eyes appeared. No one knew who she was, and the look of pure annoyance was evident on her face. "I think I found the right place."

They heard sounds from the upstairs, and all watched as the blue-skinned woman appeared. "Who are-?" She paused, looking the girl up and down. "Lily? Lily Creed? What are you doing here?" Mystique walked over and they embraced for a tight moment, and Tristan wasn't sure if they were forcing it or enjoying it.

"I think you know why I'm here," she said, her look serious. "The boss doesn't think you've been doing an accurate job. I'm just here to make sure you do."

"Boss?" Astoria asked, her blue bangs glowing in the light. "Who's the boss?"

Tristan kept his ears open, hoping for someone to say the information he needed. He and HYDRA had their suspicions, but it wasn't solid yet. If this new girl would tell them, he could easily get the information across.

"That's none of your concern, Spice," Mystique said, pointing upstairs. "Everyone, get off to bed. I need to talk with Lily, or would you prefer to be called Belle? Isn't that what you wanted your codename to be?"

She nodded. "Yep. I don't mind either one, but if it is Belle, I don't want to hear any Beauty and the Beast jokes. I love that movie."

They laughed and grudgingly headed upstairs. Tristan almost considered staying down and listening to their conversation, but decided that he could find the information out in another way. He yawned, heading up to bed.

* * *

><p>Grant proudly pressed the play button, and Mr. V watched happily as the title and opening sequence played. "Being Normal" was written across the screen.<p>

Clips of the past few days danced across the screen, from teenagers kissing to football players practicing, from nerdy students reading to cheerleaders stunting. As the video progressed, it began to focus more on the kids of the Institute. Grant narrated it himself, and he discussed how that "normal" is not set in stone.

"Everyone has his or her own version of 'normal,' including the various types of teenagers presented there. Everyone argues, like my friends Ava and Kris here. Everyone dates, like my friend Alex and his date Taryn." A clip of awkward Alex on his date showed him nervously trip over another table, drop his fork twice, and nearly topple his drink once. "Although not everyone is good at it."

"Everyone is different in his or her own way, but the only true definition of 'being normal' is that it there is not one. Everyone has his or her own gifts, and each is considered excellent, no matter what they may be."

The video ended, and Mr. V clapped. "Good job! I might have to have you do another film for me in the future. That was excellent!"

Grant shook his head quickly. "I'm afraid I will have to decline. I think that video got me into enough trouble as it is."

* * *

><p><strong>How'd you like it? Please review and tell me what you think? I really hated this episode in the show, and I hope my twists to it made it tolerable. <strong>

**Did you see Sabretooth's daughter coming at all? Thanks to LookHowUniqueAndWittyIAm for that wonderful character Lily, AKA Belle, whom I tweaked to be the daughter of Victor Creed. What did you think?**


	15. Survival of Fittest:Unstoppable Teamwork

**Shout-Outs: To Spaceman for creating Gamebreaker, to All Knowing 1 for creating Cobra, and to Cloudy-theNightMareQueen for creating Eight! Great characters guys!**

**By the way, the Score Card is now on my Profile.**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Survival of the Fittest:<strong>_  
><em><strong>Unstoppable Teamwork<strong>_

The area was dimly lit, the only light coming from the weak moon and the few beams pointing towards the grounds systematically. The police car approached the gate, which opened surprisingly quickly once identification was provided. Well, that and Eight dropped the guard with a simple touch. Viper knew Echidna would be proud.

It drove past the gate and into the main parking deck. As the car stopped, Viper turned toward her driver, GameBreaker, a calm young man with short black hair. "Are the odds in our favor?"

"They always are when I am around," the mutant said. "Or have you forgotten, baby?" Viper glared at him, her greenish black hair nearly in front of her eyes.

Eight nearly gagged in the backseat. "Could we not sicken the younger children? Virgin eyes back here, remember?"

GameBreaker smirked, winking at her. "Not for long." Eight stared back at him, horrified.

"All right, be careful and remain calm. It will not take long to break inside, since Cobra has already snuck in here once, but you must remain vigilant. I will get my weapon if it kills me, although that would be rather counter-productive."

"Well sure," the driver said, popping out of the car.

The defenses leading up to their target were such an odd arrangement of security guards, padlocks, key-pads, and master-locks. Eight only had to touch the men and women stationed in front of them once in order to drain their aura and leave them all but comatose. GameBreaker saw through each code, lock, and door and opened each one with the right probability. Viper stood by and watched some of her skilled mutant team work.

Finally, they came upon a small scanner outside of a revolving door. Eight looked ahead, and then frowned. "How in the world do we get past that? We don't have the right eyes."

Viper smirked, producing a small box from her belt. "Do we?" She slid open the lid and put the contact in place. She walked forward and leaned in front of the scanner, and without only a simple moment of hesitation, the door slid away and revealed the inside of the next room.

"How'd you get that?" Eight asked, only slightly interested, but Viper just smiled.

"I have my resources."

They walked into the room, which had a small apparatus in the center, almost like a strange pillar. GameBreaker walked forward and held his hands over the key-panel for only a moment and closed his eyes. After a quick series of buttons, the pillar slid upwards and revealed a tube of green-colored liquid and a huge man with a strange, tight orange jumpsuit.

"Hmm, is that all?" Eight asked. "He doesn't look so tough. I've taken down bigger guys than that."

"Trust me, he is, Octavia," Viper said. "His enhanced X-gene makes him quite literally unstoppable. Once he gains momentum, he cannot be stopped by an external force."

"Hmm. I wonder what happens if he ever trips," Eight considered, thinking about him falling through the floor endlessly.

GameBreaker pressed several more buttons, and the liquid began to drain away. When the man's beefy head was uncovered, he began to stir.

Viper walked forward. "Wake up, Cain." He opened his eyes and groggily blinked. "I have a mission for you. It involves your brother, Charles Xavier."

The huge man's eyes narrowed.

* * *

><p>"You will not be making wallets, neck-tie racks, or paper weights. You will not be engaging in potato sack races, water-balloon tosses, or pony rides," the huge military man explained, not afraid to get in the face of the students in line. "You <em>will <em>be taking twenty-mile hikes, repelling two-story cliffs, and crossing treacherous water with no more than a rope and all the courage you can muster. Do you read me?"

Everyone declared, "Yes, Sergeant Hawke, sir!"

"I said, 'do you read me!'" he asked again.

"Yes, Sergeant Hawke, sir!"

"Welcome to Ironback Survival Camp, a name you won't soon forget," the man said as he walked over to Ava. "Now, here we have a young woman, Avalon Bronze."

"Bronte," she corrected, but if the man was embarrassed at all, he made no sign of it.

"Her scholastic achievements at Bayville High have earned her the rank of group leader," the man began, but was interrupted by a disgruntled teen stamping his foot.

"Her?" Archie exclaimed. "But she's…a girl!"

Every girl at the meeting gasped, and the three Brotherhood girls smacked him in as many places as they could. The other members of the Xavier Institute looked from Ava to Archie, watching as the girl tried to maintain her composure. If the other humans weren't here, she would have blasted the hydrokinetic from here to Timbuktu, and every one of the X-Men knew it.

The sergeant, however, walked up to him and got in his face. "I will have you know that some of the best people in the military are women. In a few years, why don't you call me and let me know who the weaker sex is? I'll be damned if I have to listen to anyone else's idiotic opinions, so if you would, just follow your group leader's orders. You have ten minutes to pack away your gear and then meet at the training field. Dismissed!"

"I can't believe that jerk," Rivera said automatically, glaring across the others at Archie.

"Yeah, I know," Kris said, amazed. "I could have sworn Archie was going to piss himself when the sergeant got in his face!" He suddenly thought of something. "And did you see the way Jade was looking at me?"

No one had noticed it, but Alex clapped him on the shoulders in response. "Sorry."

Ava smiled and called the group over. "Guys, let's move out. We need to be ready for anything."

"How exactly did we get into this anyways?" Alex asked, craving a bag of bagels and a glass of orange juice.

"It was this or survival training with Logan," Grant said. "I think we can all agree that we will enjoy this more."

"Enjoy might be a strong word," Kris groaned, picking up his bag.

Complaining aside, the X-Men got ready to finish their training. Ava shot a look at Tristan, and was surprised. "Since when does he hang with them? And how did all of them get here anyway?"

Alex shrugged. "I don't know, but I have a feeling that he's probably a mutant, and maybe even Mystique is involved in it too." Ava thought it over, wondering if it was true.

* * *

><p>Not one member of the Brotherhood could stand to see one more push-up, from them or form anyone else. Thanks to Archie's outburst, they seemed to be on the sergeant's bad side.<p>

"I swear, my arms feel like lead," Archie complained. Not one of them could stand to hear another one of his complaints.

"Oh, just shut up already," Lily exclaimed. "You're giving me a migraine."

"Well, it just doesn't make any sense! Why can't I be the leader?" Archie exclaimed, exasperated.

"You're lacking a little bit on the 'scholastic achievement' category, and you haven't lead anything in your life," Astoria countered, a chipper smile on her face.

"I thought I was the leader of our team," he said seriously.

Every single one of them burst into laughter. And it was only bolstered by the fact that he believed it fully. "You? Leader?" Astoria asked, still in-between bursts of giggling.

"Yeah, right. Like that would ever happen," Jade added.

"Why not?" he yelled, this time getting angry.

"You're too reckless, you aren't serious, you have a drinking problem, and quite frankly, you are entirely annoying," Lily explained, almost growling as she said it.

"Drinking problem? What are you talking about?"

The beastly girl rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't be stupid. I can smell it in the basement from a mile away. And you are pretty obvious when you drink."

He was about to retort when Tristan cut them all off. "All right, you guys. It doesn't matter who is leading right now. The only thing that matters is beating out the X-dweebs. And in front of the whole school too. It's high time they knew who the Brotherhood are, and what we can do!"

* * *

><p>"I'm assuming that that green stuff stopped him somehow. Put him in suspended animation or something," Eight guessed, and Viper nodded.<p>

"Cellular paralysis bio-fluid. It actually stopped the unstoppable," the leader of HYDRA said.

GameBreaker continued his button-pushing game, slowly lowering the tube as the last of the liquid drained away. "It will take a few moments before you can move, pal."

"Who…are you?" the man asked, still struggling with his chemical-induced sleep.

"We're dealmakers, Cain," Viper began, walking over to the wall and releasing the famed orange helmet. "I need you to…_procure _an object for me. Something that should be in my grasp but was rudely taken by your brother, Charles Xavier." At the mention of the other man, his face twisted in rage.

The three of them placed the helmet on the man's head, clasping them all down tightly. "Now, see. Doesn't that look nice? I'll bet you could get any date you want!" GameBreaker said, but his eyes quickly flashed. "Buddy, I wouldn't try hitting me. Trust me, we're not people you want to mess with."

The man didn't care obviously, because his fist slashed out and really looked like it might crush the mutant's head right there, but the precognitive mutant simply dodged it at the last second. He signaled to Eight, and she tapped his bare arm. To her, his aura appeared and began to shine a bright orange color, and some was absorbed into her body before she yanked her hand away in fright.

"Unstoppable, even for me. His aura was fighting mine."

Viper stepped forward before the groggy mutant could attack again. "I can promise you revenge!"

He stepped once, tearing away the chains that held him in place. Viper stepped back a few more feet, but Cain swiped her out of the way and she hit the wall hard, almost instantly. David and Octavia ran over to her, worried. "I don't need your help for revenge." The monster walked calmly toward the door and held out his hands, denting it inward as he continued forward, and the door clattered to the floor as it finally gave way.

Viper stirred. "He truly is the unstoppable Juggernaut."

* * *

><p>The rope climb, a student's most hated PE test. But no one cared at this point. Both teams just wanted to win.<p>

Archie grabbed hold of the rope and began to pull himself up, but Ava grabbed the rope next to him and did the same. They glared at each other as they both tried to press harder, faster. Ava wanted revenge, and she could feel it in her veins.

"I'll teach you to make sexist comments!" the girl said bitterly, reaching the top of the rope a full foot ahead of Archie. She grabbed the zipline, using the winds to push her off a little, as well as her own weight. Archie forced himself off, falling in right behind her.

The two landed right near the riverbank, where two rafts were conveniently waiting for them. Ava reached hers first, yanking on the ropes that bound it to the land. Archie knelt next to her at the opposite raft, and just couldn't resist.

"You swim?"

"Well, yeah."

Archie held out his hand and the water reached out and grabbed her like a fist, pulling the raft and her under. She and the raft popped up a few feet away, and she was not happy, just as Archie pushed off.

"Hey!" Kris yelled, watching the whole thing go down. Sparks began to fly around his hands, but Rivera shook her head. "That cheater!"

"Listen, we shouldn't use our powers around here," Rivera explained wisely. "Not in front of everyone, and how fair would this be if we could? Man against nature."

"Well, that guy needs a serious attitude adjustment," Kris replied with teeth clenched, but Dean shook her head.

"She's right, even if we don't agree with it," she said calmly. "I believe in Ava, and she will handle it like a group leader should."

Archie was rushing along, using the oars and his powers to propel the raft along, albeit sneakily. Out of nowhere, a small bolt of amaranth zapped the raft and Archie capsized with a shout.

"Or not," the Inuit girl added.

Ava pulled herself into the raft, ignoring her wet hair and clothes. She pushed along, and everyone cheered when she finally made it ashore. Ava jumped from the boat and charged head-first into the finish line. Archie pulled himself onto the sandy bank and groaned. Sergeant Hawke blew his whistle.

The others rushed over to cheer her on, glad that she had won, but the Brotherhood was not so happy.

"As much as I hate that that annoying water-boy could have won, Ava should have lost!" Astoria yelled.

"Yeah, all she did was take a dip in the water and then she went ballistic!" added Lily.

"A dip? She practically drowned!" Alex yelled, staring Tristan down.

"Drowned my-"

They were interrupted by the whistle of the military man.

* * *

><p>"Fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty!" cringed the whole group, X-Men and Brotherhood.<p>

Sergeant Hawke walked along the group as they finished. "Now, on your feet." The others groaned as they stood. "Now, here at Ironback, we got ways to weed the loudmouths from the tough guys. We fight it out in the wilderness, against the wilderness. You grubs want to prove how tough you are, fine. First team to snatch a flag I've planted at the top of Mt. Humilation and brings it back to me wins!"

"Great! I can go wild and get there first!" Lily exclaimed.

Grant stepped forward, remembering his experience as a hiker. "Not if I get there first!"

"The whole team, or no one! As proof, I want a snapshot of every member, right there at the top. Are we clear?" the man exclaimed.

"Sir, yes, sir!" the two groups yelled.

"You leave in five at opposite trails," Sergeant Hawke said as he began to walk away. "Be ready."

Ava and Archie shared one ugly look before the two groups disbanded.

* * *

><p>Xavier stared into the Cerebro panel, helmet on his head.<p>

"Is Cerebro locating any new mutant sigs?" asked Logan, walking in from one of his many motorcycle trips.

Xavier shook his head. "No, just our students. Up at Ironback. They've been a little active."

"Did you tell 'em not to use their powers?"

"No, I was hoping that they would make that decision themselves," Xavier said, a little disappointed that they didn't.

"Well, I still say you shoulda let me handle their survival training."

"I gave them that choice, Logan," Xavier reminded him. "They felt they had a better chance of surviving the camp."

Just as he said it, Cerebro began to beep and the alert signal popped up on the screen.

"Well, well. Seems we have a new mutant on the scene after all," Xavier said as the bio began to pop up.

"Discovery: enhanced mutant signature. Identity confirmed, and matched to archive file."

"Archive file? Who would…" He gasped as the machine finished the profile of his brother.

"Name: Cain Marko. Residence: Stokes County Maximum Security Prison. Current Location: In Transit, upstate New York."

"No…" Xavier said, his head in his hands.

"Cain Marko? Who's?"

"He's my half-brother. Somehow, he's escaped."

"What's an _enhanced_ mutant signature?"

Xavier took off the helmet and placed it back on the panel. "He had an X-gene at birth, but it was dormant for most of his life. So he awaked it with mysticism."

"Hmm. What kind of powers does he have?" asked Wolverine.

"He's become a Juggernaut," Xavier explained solemnly. "Invulnerable."

* * *

><p>Cain marched up the street, hearing the police cars tailing him with sirens. They sped up and circled around him, but he simply tossed them like they didn't even exist, and both cars rolled away.<p>

* * *

><p>The X-Men rushed through the forest, and they were all nearing the mountain. Ava was rushing harder than the rest of them, her temper driving her. It was a wonder that the mountain wasn't wrapped in a lightning storm.<p>

"We're almost to the base! Let's hurry!" she yelled back, and Dean, Rivera, and Kris were immediately behind them.

"Can't you control where you put your clones when you make them?" Kris asked the tripling girl.

"Before you ask, even if I could, I wouldn't. We'd be no better than them," the girl said, and the boy frowned.

"What if I super-charged you?" asked Kris as they ran, his breathing ragged.

She grimaced. "I'm sorry, but I'd rather there not be thirty me's walking around with voices in my head. It's bad enough with three of me."

"Come on," Alex said, rushing forward with Grant at his heels. "Follow Ava's lead on this one. We'll win."

They finally reached the path and began winding up the rocky-slope.

* * *

><p>Lily was guiding the Brotherhood members on another section of trail, and they arrived at the mountain very quickly. She was not shifted, but her senses were still somewhat stronger than the others, as well as some of the agility and reflexes. In other words, she looked like some four-legged animal running through the woods, and the others were barely ahead. Jade practically considered slowing the girl down so they could keep up.<p>

"You guys, what is taking so long?" She said as she finally began to free-climb up the side of the mountain. All of them were lucky that the holds were good enough to support them.

"Sorry, but we're not half rabbit, or whatever the hell kind of animal you are," Archie responded, keeping as closely as he could to second place, with the other three close behind him. But no one was listening to him, since he got them into that mess anyway.

"Hey, Astoria, is there a way you could use your flames to fly us up there?" asked Tristan.

She shook her head, her shiny blue bangs blowing in the breeze. "Sorry, they don't work like that. I'm not like the Human Torch."

"Well, so much for that idea," he murmured, pushing ahead. "Oh well, we'll still win. We're very far ahead, thanks to Lily knowing what path to take."

* * *

><p>The Blackbird flew over the countryside, with Storm at the helm. She switched it to auto-pilot and then walked back to the platform, strapping herself in and then raising it with a button. She popped out of the top and raised her hands, draping the entire jet with a stream of fog. The dense clouds spread from the jet's trail, and covered the entire ground within a thirty mile radius.<p>

"Hmm. This reminds me," she said with a smile. "I need to work with Ava on her fog."

* * *

><p>Xavier watched the news reports, hearing the reporter say that the searches for the escaped convict have stopped due to the dense fog.<p>

"_Very good, Storm. Keep it up," _he called out with his mind. As Logan walked in, he said, "If no one can see Cain, no one will be foolish enough to try and recapture him."

"If I can't stop him, Charles, your best protection will be in the Danger Room. I've got it ready for you," he said as they headed down the hall.

"Yes, it may slow him down. But it won't stop him."

"Do you have any defense against him at all?" asked Wolverine.

He pointed at his head. "My mind. If I can attack him with enough psychic blasts, I should be able to stop him. As long as he isn't wearing his helmet."

* * *

><p>Lily finally got to the top of an overhang and looked down at the others, who were surprisingly close behind her. She helped each of them up, but no one bothered to thank her except Tristan.<p>

They looked over and there was a tunnel entrance, cut right into the rock. It was lined with wood and had a sign up that said, "Keep out."

"An abandoned mine?" Jade asked, thinking of how cliché it was. "Should we check it out?"

No one had any arguments. "I really don't see why not," Tristan said, guiding them along and deep into the mine. "There's got to be air vents, and maybe one can lead to the top."

No one bothered to read the danger sign below.

* * *

><p>Ava and the others finally finished their long sloped ascent and got to a clearing near the top. It was very close, and they could almost taste victory.<p>

She looked at Grant, and handed him a rope. "Here, we are not going to lose to them. Stretch this to the top! Time's wasting!"

Grant peered at her, but took the rope anyway. He was about to argue, but decided that if it happened it happened. He stretched his arm to the top and spiked the rope right into the edge, and some of them cheered for it.

Rivera, Dean, and Alex were not impressed. The energy converter _tsked_ and then began to free-hand it, and the others followed suit soon after. "We can do this without powers, Ava. And you know it," Alex said.

She sighed and climbed behind them, ready to just win this thing already.

* * *

><p>The Brotherhood ran toward the air vent, obviously ready to get out of the dank, dark tunnel. Lily said she could smell fresh air, and when they finally arrived at one of the stair-ways that led outside, all of them groaned. There was a huge pile of broken boards and rubble separating them, with only two small gaps leading through.<p>

"Look! Now it's blocked off!" Jade said, angry. She was about to turn around when Astoria suddenly had an idea.

"Hey, why don't we clear the rubble? I can burn away the wood and Tristan can clear the rock."

"That's not a bad idea," Lily said, approving.

"Um, think about it. It's going to get really hot in here, and where will the smoke go?" Jade said, and that sort of killed their plan.

"No, look. It will go either out this way, or into those two holes. It's a plan, so let's do it. If we go back we'll never win," Archie said.

Astoria decided that since most of it was wood, she should go first. The others backed away and around a corner, trying to avoid the heat that wouldn't bother the pyrokinetic.

Astoria snapped her fingers and a blue flame appeared above her fingers. She angled her hands towards the burst and shot a concentrated burst of blue fire into the rubble. At first, the flames were not very warm, but it only took a few moments for them to heat up. Smoke filtered through the halls, searching for an exit. Some went up the stair-way, but most headed toward the other Brotherhood. They held their breath and waited, no one daring to breathe the smoke in case of bad chemicals.

Finally, she ended her flame-show and to their surprise, most of the wood was now ash. Rocks had fallen into a more medium size pile, but the two holes were not large enough to pass through.

Tristan walked up, knowing it was his turn. He, at first, wanted to do quick, smaller shots but he soon realized they wouldn't be strong enough. It was then that realized what he had to do, and he hated to show any form of weakness.

He held up both arms and slowly changed them to fists. He aimed them at the perfect spot and then fired, a huge bolt of red energy blasting apart bits of rock and stone. To their relief, the rubble was clear enough to pass through and they hurried toward him.

And just in time too. Lily reflexively grabbed Tristan as he fell, exhausted from using all the energy within his body. Those attacks were powerful but a last resort.

Lily went into beast mode and grabbed Tristan from the ground, and interlocked his legs around her waist and his arms around her large torso and said, "Hold on!"

The Brotherhood headed up the stairs, and sunlight streamed into the tunnel.

* * *

><p>Finally, the other mutants appeared from the ridge, and Ava glanced up and nearly made a thundercloud from her excitement. "There it is! The flag!"<p>

That's when they heard a rumble, almost like the sound of an explosion. Was this a volcano? The ground shook, and Kris screamed when he lost his footing and started to fall.

Grant reflexively stretched out and grabbed his body, wrapped his arms around the boy's entire torso. The momentum was almost too much to overcome and the two boys continued to fall, until the three Riveras, Dean, Alex, and Ava grabbed hold of Grant's feet right before he lost his footing. They reeled him in, and the stretching mutant worked to retract himself to make it easier.

Finally, Kris was back on solid ground and heaving from adrenaline. Grant was just heaving from exhaustion.

"That's the second time I've saved someone from falling off a cliff with my powers," the boy said. "Let's hope that there is never a third."

The others chuckled, and Ava was glad that they were finally okay. "That explosion had to be the Brotherhood. Grant, can you pull us all to the top?"

Rivera glared so hard at Ava that it wasn't even funny. "He can't. His powers don't work like that, and you know it. He's not super strong. You saw how we had to help pull him up!"

"I don't see the difference," Ava argued, and Alex shot daggers at her.

"The difference is that we do not have to win this. At all. So quit being obsessed with it." Ava frowned.

* * *

><p>Viper stared ahead as the Juggernaut began to march toward the mansion. She turned toward the human next to her, so silent that she almost forgot that he was even there.<p>

"Cobra, get inside and get the weapon," she said determinedly. "GameBreaker says that it's most likely to be on the lower-levels, inside a store room. The code is 4279. It would be best if you would stay hidden."

The man made a very silent nod, not believing that he should talk when he's on missions. If only Viper could get him to shut up when he wasn't on missions.

And then the man rushed forward, dipping inside the grounds of the mansion unnoticed as the unstoppable mutant threw Wolverine through the front door of the mansion.

Viper turned toward the car and got inside. She sped off to the extraction point, ready to return to the Headquarters already. She missed her throne.

* * *

><p>Ava and the X-Men finally got to the top of the peak. Archie and the Brotherhood did as well. Temperaments were high, and for a moment, clouds formed overhead and nearly knocked every mutant off the top.<p>

Naturally, Archie and Ava grabbed the flag at the same time and began to duel over it. Others were about to join in, but that's when the jet mysteriously popped over the peak. Storm said over the loudspeaker, "X-Men, the professor is in trouble. Get inside. And you too, Brotherhood."

"Why should we go?" Jade asked. "What has the professor done for us?"

"You should go because we need your help, and I am willing to get you away from Sergeant Hawke."

The Brotherhood naturally complied. The last thing the two groups did was take a picture with the flag. They tossed it down as they flew over, surprising Hawke with a near impalement and a picture of them together, holding the flag.

* * *

><p>The professor rolled backwards, the imposing figure of his half-brother staring down at him. Wolverine had not been able to stop him, and the others weren't back yet.<p>

"Cain, this doesn't have to end badly. This house…it's about new beginnings."

"You're right, Charles. This is the beginning for me and the end for you."

Xavier gulped. "You've learned nothing. You never will. Activate Logan's Run: X-Thirteen."

Suddenly, the Danger Room burst into life as the strongest, toughest exercise began. Huge discs sprayed from the walls, spinning like saws. Cain simply held up his arm and they shattered to pieces. Lasers erupted from all sides and tried to blast him, but they made no effect. A huge g-force propeller, fit with maces and blades, spun at him as he walked forward, but the device simply exploded against his form.

"Take a break, Wolverine!" said a voice.

"We'll take it from here," added another.

Arsenal was standing with the Brotherhood and Tempest with the X-Men, all with their prospective uniforms. Well, if you could call them uniforms on the Brotherhood side.

Cain continued his march forward, but Belle morphed and rushed forward, slamming into his body with impressive strength. It was enough to push him backward, where he met Aurum's waiting gold trip line for an arm. The unstoppable monster fell backward, crashing into the floor of the room and leaving a large dent.

"Remove the helmet!" Xavier yelled.

Spice and Madidus used their powers together this time, creating a steam cloud that surrounded the whole room and upped the temperature. It only momentarily distracted Juggernaut, and the man walked toward a cornered Madidus and tried to slam him into the wall. All he got was a splash of water as the mutant burst apart and reformed behind him.

"It's gonna take more than that, big guy," the hydrokinetic taunted.

Dynamo blasted him with bolts of energy, and Sparkplug mimicked him with borrowed power. They couldn't have been any more than mosquito bites to him. Aurum chose this as a distraction to grab one of the clasps and undo it, before the man grabbed the stretchy mutant and slung him against the wall.

Matrix used her powers to slow him down, the stress apparent as her yellow energy fought with the unstoppable man's powers. It was enough to slow him down for Belle to grab another clasp and undo it, before she was swatted away like a fly.

Arsenal used his marksmanship to blast a simple quick blast into the third clasp, breaking off the whole thing. Tempest and Storm worked together to create a powerful whirlwind, which was enough to suspend the mutant in the air. Echo rushed forward and grabbed the last clasp, her three fold attack enough to get it undone before she was completely thrown away. The whirlwind disappeared, the strain too much for them to bear.

With one last movement, Winter Rose ran over, tore off the helmet, and immediately whispered, "Break leg." She hoped that would be enough to knock him down so Xavier could do his thing.

The sound of a _CRACK_ was inevitable. The man howled in pain, and fell to the ground. It almost looked like he would stand up and recover, but Xavier held his fingers to his temples.

"I'm sorry, Cain," he whispered, and mental power erupted in Xavier's mind and crashed against Juggernaut's. The unstoppable man shrieked in pain and tried to fight through it, but it was only a matter of time before he finally succumbed and fell into a mental coma.

Everyone cheered. It was a momentous occasion, and probably the toughest thing they had ever done. And most importantly, the best teamwork ever displayed, despite their differences.

"This is the part where you say you staged this whole thing," Astoria said, almost hopefully.

Xavier shook his head. "No, this was very much real. And very troubling, since that whole prison was designed to secure him. But you did an excellent job." He looked toward the Brotherhood. "You are welcome to stay here, you know."

Tristan smirked. "No, thanks. It smells too clean here." He and Ava shared a look for a split moment before the group began to disband.

"Besides," Lily said, a growl on her face as she looked at Wolverine, "I still remember what you did to my father."

"Well, the invitation is always open," the professor tried as they disappeared, some of them laughing as they left.

"How do you think he got out?" asked Alex, nudging the unconscious body below them.

"It had to be someone else releasing him. I was unable to see who caused this problem in his mind, almost like some sort of interference. Even now, I still cannot. But whatever the cause, it is very troubling."

* * *

><p>The throne was so comfortable, and it gave her a jolt just to be sitting in this seat of power. Deep in the Underground HYDRA Base of New York, it felt like home to her.<p>

She looked around at her agents spread out in the main room. Down below them, on the floor, regimens of HYDRA were practicing their fighting styles as a group, being led by Wipe-Out, a guy with a severe case of multiple personality syndrome. The mutant division, led by their sub-head Echidna, was in an adjacent training room, probably working on their powers together.

Her hand was itching to put it on. Supposedly, it was such a source of extreme power that you were addicted from the first touch. So naturally, when she saw Cobra approach from the nearest door, her entire body rushed up to meet him.

"Did you get it?" she asked excitedly.

He pulled something from his bag and immediately, she grabbed it from his hand, almost paranoid he would put it on and steal the glory for himself. "Thank you. You are dismissed."

She held it up to examine it closely. It was a dark red color, designed to fit the wearer perfectly. It felt like metal but was bendable like plastic, and very lightweight. She almost expected it to weigh less.

Viper smiled as she stared at the object in pure awe. When she slipped the object on, she immediately felt the rush of energy.

She was now, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the true Supreme Hydra.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you liked that chapter. I think it turned out more interesting than when Mystique did it. Plus, a little bit of HYDRA never hurt anyone. :) <strong>

**By the way, does anyone know if it is HYDRA or just Hydra? I can never tell for sure. **

**Anyways, Shadowed Past actually is next. I had the episode order wrong at first, so I was planning on doing this chapter out of order. Naturally.**


	16. Shadowed Past: The Father's At Prank

Shadowed Past:  
>The Father's at Prank<p>

Tristan hurried, his face cloaked in black. The night time air was humid and hot, despite the usual New York air. Bayville was dark and empty in this part of town, and it reminded him so much of why he hated the slums. And he knew from experience too, but his mother couldn't afford much in order to support him. Eventually, he was put into foster homes, but that was years ago.

He could spend his time reminiscing, but that wasn't important at the moment. He dashed through the streets, staying as silent and still as possible. The slight breeze was pleasant, and he was already feeling the beating of his heart from over-exertion. He wondered what Echidna would think of him if she saw him, so tired and out of shape. But Tristan could blame his months with the Brotherhood.

He was trailing someone, and he wondered how long it would take for the silent thief to slip up. Knowing Cobra's track-record, it might be a while. Tristan half-wondered if he should just give up, but he knew that he saw the man running from the Xavier Institute. Why would he go there? Why would Viper order him to break in? And more importantly, why would Cobra allow himself to be seen? Was he sending Tristan a message?

And then it clicked. It was an ingenious plan, one that really would not have taken much thought. Have Juggernaut distract the entire Institute while Cobra broke in. It was just fitting the pieces together of why Viper needed him to. Did he take something from Xavier that she wanted?

Cobra really was not the type to even be visible. Sure, he wasn't a mutant, but the guy had such a knack for stealth that he may as well have been one. So why would he allow himself to be seen?

His question about Cobra was answered when the nearly always silent man called Tristan and said, "City Park." That was all he said, but it was more than enough information for Tristan to figure out who it was.

Tristan had finally gotten to the City Park when he had found another note saying, "East Side." He found the next site not long after, and now he was running through the slums trying to find the man.

That's when he heard a silent hiss. It wasn't a loud sound, but enough for Tristan to hear. He turned to see Cobra leaning against the wall of the alleyway. He was characteristically dressed in all black and he could not see the man's face, but tufts of black hair could be seen poking out.

"Again with the hissing, Leo?" Tristan said, smiling. "Haven't we scolded you enough?"

Tristan didn't know how he could tell, but the other was obviously rolling his eyes. "Oh, be quiet. Or I won't give you any information."

"Information?" the young mutant said, intrigued.

"About your father," Cobra said, grinning as he watched Tristan's eyes widen.

* * *

><p>Mystique groaned once again, before heading downstairs to quell the madness. They had been yelling back and forth all day, and now well into the night. She might be able to make herself look however she wanted to, but she needed her beauty sleep. And she would be damned if those kids ruined it for her.<p>

She slammed her door open and smiled when she heard the argument go quiet. Instead of letting it be, she headed downstairs, pronouncing her heavy footfalls at each step just to freak them out.

When she finally got to the main room, her deadly frown intimidated them all into complete silence. Her eyes were enough to make some of them shake.

"If I have to wake up one more time to hear any of you arguing, I will-" She froze, looking around. "Where's Tristan?"

Astoria and Archie shared a worried look, and Jade barely looked up from her magazine. Lily pointed toward the door. "He went out," the beastly girl said.

"Out?" Mystique asked, her fists clenching. "And you didn't tell me that because…?"

"We didn't think it was a big deal," Lily said honestly, both boredom and excitement on her face.

"You didn't think it was a big deal," the shape-shifter said, not meaning it as a question. Her yellow eyes flashed with anger. "You argued like little school children, and then you let one of your own go gallivanting around the city for no apparent reason."

"Pretty much," Lily said, not caring at this point. Her muscles ached for a fight.

If Mystique had been holding anything in her hands, it would have snapped into pieces. Her knuckles were so light blue with tension that they were nearly white. She stared at Lily with so much contempt that it was almost scary. After a long moment of the two glaring at each other, Mystique finally broke contact and looked at each and every one of them. "Does anyone know where he went?"

Astoria gestured to the door. "Before he left, he got a phone call on his cell phone. I don't know who it was, but he left after a very short call, mumbling something about a park."

Mystique nodded, before finally taking a deep breath. "Everyone! Bed!"

Archie, Astoria, and Jade hurried upstairs, mostly just frightened. Archie would never admit on the outside that he was scared, but in truth, the woman terrified him when she got like this.

Lily, however, stayed completely still for a long moment, her grip on the table to control her animalistic temper white hot. The "beast" side of her wanted to rip the blue-skinned woman to pieces, but she maintained her composure. Or at least enough not to go wild.

"I said to go to bed," Mystique said through gritted teeth. "Now!"

Lily finally stood but she never broke eye contact as she headed towards the stairs. Anyone looking through the window might not have seen the tension the short girl brought.

"And none of you should _dare_ leave this house!" Mystique yelled from downstairs. She then left the house without another word, thinking about where all the Bayville parks were.

* * *

><p>"My father?" asked Tristan, bewildered.<p>

Cobra smiled. "I knew that would get your attention."

"Well, spill," the mutant said, excited on one side and annoyed on the other that he wouldn't just tell him.

"Viper thinks that she has found him, but let's just say that she doesn't need him anymore."

Tristan thought about what that could mean, and after a short moment, it clicked. "He didn't have it, did he?"

Cobra shook his head. "No."

"Well, who did?"

"I think you know," the man said. "After all, you saw me retrieving it."

Tristan's eyes widened. "Xavier had it? Why would Xavier have it?" All of a sudden, he began to wonder why Viper had truly assigned him here.

"She thinks Xavier had a run-in with your father when he was younger," Cobra answered. "Maybe he managed to take it from him and hide it."

"So Viper thinks that the old man had something to do with his disappearance?"

Cobra shook his head. "No. Don't get your panties in a wad and jump to conclusions, I'm getting there." He kicked himself off of the wall, looking overhead. "She found a lead that might be worth investigating."

"And?"

"Well, the German HYDRA branch found some new evidence about his whereabouts," explained Cobra. "Through a contact, they discovered that he's been hiding in the Sahara Desert. You know what that means, right?"

Tristan's eyes widened again. "Rebirth."

* * *

><p>Mystique eyed the city overhead, flapping her owl wings and using her increased vision to scour for any sign of the young mutant. She had checked the main city park first but had found no sign of him, so she sped to the park on the east side of town next. She touched down at the base of a tree and shifted into a small dog, hoping that her slightly increased nose would help her.<p>

She sniffed and finally caught some whiff of him, but it wasn't coming from the park. The slums started only two blocks over, and that was where she was sensing him. She ran through the streets, occasionally stopping to sniff. Finally, she began to smell him more strongly.

She finally spotted him in the alleyway, and a heavily cloaked man stood across from him. She watched from afar, enough that she could barely hear bits of his conversation. This was very interesting, and perhaps it could shed some light on who Tristan was. He was definitely acting suspiciously, and she almost cursed herself for starting to trust him.

"…you'll be betraying them, Arsenal," the other man said, almost with a warning tone.

"I know," Tristan answered. "But so are you by giving me this information."

"It's a point, but a moot one at that," the cloaked figure said. "How are you going to get a plane to find him?"

Tristan rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous tick that Mystique had seen him do ever since he joined up with them. "I can find a way, I think."

"Good luck," the dark figure said, before slipping farther into the alleyway and disappearing from sight.

Mystique shifted back into her principal disguise and raised an eyebrow. This was definitely interesting.

* * *

><p>"Who does Mystique think she is?" Lily growled, pacing the hallway upstairs. "My dad would tear her in half!"<p>

The others were all a little miffed by it, some more than others. Astoria was trying to keep her incredibly constant and incredibly creepy smile going, and Archie had a look on his face like "there's no way anyone can be that happy all the time." The hydrokinetic was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed tightly across his shoulders. Jade was sitting against the wall with her head on her knees, a little upset by Mystique but more upset that she was interrupted from her magazine.

"Yeah, well, your dad isn't around," Jade groaned, rubbing her head. "Please, quit pacing. You're giving me a migraine."

Lily scowled at her, and nearly changed into beast mode just to wipe the disgruntled look off Matrix's face.

"Where's Tristan?" Astoria asked, trying to change the subject. "It's been a while since he left."

No one had any answers, and she frowned at the awkward silence.

Archie finally just sighed and walked over to Mystique's door. He tried the knob, trying to get forceful with it.

"What are you doing?" Jade asked.

"I can't just do _nothing,_" Archie exclaimed, yanking on the knob.

"So what exactly are you trying to do?" The pyrokinetic asked. "She'll kill you where you stand."

It was a bit of an exaggeration, Astoria thought, but whatever Archie was going to do was not a good idea.

"You're going to break into her room to prank her, aren't you?" asked Jade, not thoroughly interested in his antics at all.

Archie didn't respond but turned to Lily. "Hit me."

She looked at him like he was absolutely nuts. "What do you mean?"

"I can't turn my whole body into water on command yet," he explained and pointed to the door. "I can slide through the cracks."

Lily rolled up both sleeves of her black blouse and then looked at him. "You sure?" Archie nodded and she slammed her fist right into his jaw. When his body didn't "melt", he frowned. She raised her hand again, but he called it off.

"No!" he turned to Astoria. "Fireball."

The flame girl raised an eyebrow before generating a small ball of blue flame over her hand. She tossed it carefully, and the blue fire collided with his chest, setting his clothes on fire. He frowned again, before freaking out that his clothes were on fire.

"Gotta get to the bathroom!" he exclaimed, hurrying down the hall. When he ran by, Jade stuck out her foot and instead of trampling to the floor in a burning heap, he splashed against the hardwood in a puddle of water.

"Good going, Matrix," Lily praised.

"I guess that he can only shift when it takes him by surprise," Astoria wondered.

The puddle moved across the floor and sucked under Mystique's door. After another second, the door opened to reveal Archie, slowly reforming clothes and all.

"You know, I've always wondered why your clothes are change too," the pyrokinetic wondered.

Lily snickered. "Yeah, I figured you'd be a skinny little naked boy when you first did that."

He just ignored them, all the possibilities of what he could do to Mystique's room running through his mind. When they walked inside, Jade groaned.

"Her place is so nice," she said, looking at the huge drapes and the very ornate bed.

"Not for long," Archie said, skimming through her closet.

The three girls stood near the door as they watched him shuffle through drawers and compartments. "You know you can't wet anything in here, Madidus. That's why we can always tell that you did it," Astoria advised.

The realization hit him like a freight train. "I'm not so sure that this is a good idea anymore."

Lily smirked. "It's just like you to go in there with a stupid plan."

Archie glared at her. "Like you could do any better."

The beast girl had to fight several urges at once. "I don't even have to test it out to know that I could."

"Oh, yeah?" Archie countered, now angry. Astoria and Jade looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"Guys, as _captivating_ as this is, you can settle your petty argument another time. Mystique is already angry enough at Tristan for leaving and at Lily for acting up earlier," Jade advised wisely.

They realized that she was probably right.

* * *

><p>Tristan had been heading back to the Brotherhood house, trying to figure out a way to get to Africa when Mystique suddenly appeared in front of him from around a corner. He gulped.<p>

"I hear that you are in need of transportation," she said, smirking. His eyes widened.

"Wait, you heard that?"

"Some of it," she said. "Where do you need to go?"

He was still a little shocked that she was even willing to help him. "Why are you helping me? And do you even know why I'm going?"

She shook her head. "No, I don't know why, but it must be important if you are going to drop everything to go. And I figure that this is a way to find trust in each other, as long as you tell me what happened when you get back."

Tristan sighed, before realizing that this was a good deal, sort of. He hated the idea of blowing his cover and wondered if he could find a way to lie. "I need to get to the Sahara Desert. Cairo would be my best bet, and then I might need transportation to get to where I'm going."

"A round-trip ticket to Cairo then," she said, pulling out her phone, "and enough money to get into the desert, right?"

He thought about it, and smiled. "Yeah. That will work. Thanks."

"Don't thank me yet, Arsenal. You can thank me when you get back and explain exactly who the hell you are. You have three days."

* * *

><p><strong>How's that? What do you think? Please review! I'm splitting this one up because I haven't updated in a while, and I figured that this would be a good stopping point (plus, I'm still trying to figure out exactly how I'm going to end this one!). No X-Men, sadly, but was the Brotherhood done well? I thought an all-Brotherhood chapter was a good idea, and was it mysterious enough? Let me know what you think of your characters, please. <strong>

**By the way, I have been working on a seven-chapter spin-off that describes the recruitment of the New Mutants, and they also get their first major enemy too. It's going to incorporate canon comic book characters into the mix as enemies, and I think that you will like it. I'm not going to post it until season one is done, as it takes place in the gap between Cauldron and Growing Pains. The X-Men take a backseat and let the New Mutants shine. I've got two chapters done already, and I'll soon be working on a third once I finish the second half of this episode. I'm working on them ahead of time to get that segment out of the way so you guys can just enjoy. Wish me luck!**

**Oh, and if you were wondering, the title is a play on words with "The Future is at stake!"**


	17. Shadowed Past: Supreme Reunion

**Score Card is on my profile!**

* * *

><p><em>Shadowed Past:<em>  
><em>Supreme Reunion<em>

Tristan drove through the desert, keeping track of how far away from Cairo he was with an odometer. The four-wheeler, even though it had sand-terrain tires, was having trouble with the constant up and down of dunes. The sun was hot and unyielding, and he wished that he had Ava's powers over the weather. A storm cloud with very cool wind and rain would be amazing right then.

The plane had landed after a trip that seemed much longer than it actually had been. He had been in full anticipation of meeting his missing father after all of that time. It had been too long since they had seen each other.

He had already travelled a long ways from Cairo, or at least in time. It was day two of his allotted three, and he hoped that he would get there soon. As far as he knew, the site where Rebirth was hidden was not too far from Cairo, and it shouldn't be much farther.

When he finally spotted it, he smiled happily. It was a simple dome made of metal, and from first glance, it looked completely sealed off. From all the intel he had gotten from Cobra, he knew of only one way inside.

"Hmm, I guess Cobra was right," he murmured, spitting out some sand he had picked up from the wind. "It isn't cloaked."

Normally, the huge silver dome would stick out like a sore thumb against the sandy ground, but it had a built-in cloaking device that shielded from most detection. It was strangely convenient that it was deactivated. He wondered if Cobra had something to do with it.

Tristan sped toward the dome, and then slowly stopped on a dune nearby. The rest of the trip could be done on foot. If things went down, he needed a way out.

He walked up to the simple dome and found the northernmost point. Before going on, he looked at his reflection and pondered if he was ready to meet him after all this time. He looked at his forearms, seeing no black "tattoos" which meant he was completely charged and at full ammo; not that he would need it, but just in case. He took another deep breath before tapping a small discolored spot exactly three feet from the ground.

He watched in awe as the wall slowly unraveled itself at the point until there was a simple circular hole cut into the side, just enough for him to slip through.

* * *

><p>"Geez, I wish Tristan would get home from his weird trip," Astoria muttered, painting her nails in bright electric blue as she sat at the lunch table. "Mystique's been extra harsh on us since he left so abruptly."<p>

"What? Somebody got a crush?" Lily asked, snickering.

"NO!" Astoria said quickly, but the taller girl raised an eyebrow at her reddening cheeks. "Seriously, no. I was just kind of hoping that he would get home soon so maybe she would quit being so arrogantly annoying."

Lily nodded, a smirk across her face. "Sure."

Just then, they saw the principal approaching and both girls sighed. Mystique stared down at the four of them and said, "We're going to be training today. I expect you to be home at exactly three thirty. If you aren't, there will be hell to pay."

As she walked away, Archie and Jade stared at her with raised eyebrows, and Lily just shook her head, laughing. "Well, sure."

* * *

><p>The inside of the dome was cool and lit by a string of fluorescent lights. Support beams arced from the ground to a center point on the top-most point. In the center of the room was a machine that looked very complicated, complete with a glass chamber. Next to it was a computer panel that didn't look very complex but probably was, considering what Operation: Rebirth was supposed to do.<p>

In the very center of the room, to his delight, was a very weak looking man with no hair and wearing a very loose dark green uniform. He had very wrinkled skin and his entire body looked too old. Tristan remembered when the tall man fit that uniform tightly, and he realized that the man's age must have slowly caught up with him. Hell, that was why he needed the Rebirth machine.

"Father!" he yelled, running over to aid the former Supreme HYDRA.

The older man turned to see his black-haired son running up to him, and his first instinct was to recoil away from him. But after his common sense faded, he hugged his son as tightly as he could. "Hello, Tristan."

"You look horrible," the boy murmured, studying his almost powdery old skin. "You need to use the device now."

"I know," the man choked out, a slight German accent on his weak voice. "Here, I thought I could do it alone. Will you help me into the machine?"

Tristan nodded without question and guided him slowly, supporting him with his body. He sat the man in the chamber and shut the door. The key panel looked complicated up close, and his father suddenly coughed roughly. It hit Tristan in that moment that the man might be dying.

"Dad, I don't know how to work this stupid thing."

The older man who was growing weaker by the minute aided Tristan as best he could in the controls. Once the boy thought he knew how to control it, he turned to his father once more.

"I need to know something," Tristan said, a determined look on his face.

The weak man looked up, fatigue draining away. "There's not much time, son. Just activate the machine!"

"Not until you tell me why you abandoned me all those years ago," Tristan said, his teeth clenched tightly. "HYDRA wouldn't tell me anything when you left, even after I climbed the ranks into the mutant division."

The old man coughed, but before he could answer, a familiar female voice rang out. "It's because of me, Arsenal."

He twisted his head around to see the green-haired woman approaching. Two armed guards were behind her, dressed in the dark green and yellow of HYDRA. Their rifles were ominously aimed toward him, and Tristan gulped.

"Activate the machine! Now!"

Tristan knew what could happen if he left his father in the weakened state, and he immediately flipped the switch. Viper cried out to try to stop it, but gas filled the chamber and the sound of a power generator could be heard in the echoing dome. An eerie light radiated from the machine, but it was a mere glow.

"You shouldn't have done that, boy," the woman said, a furious glint in her eye.

Tristan stood tall and tried to be as commanding a presence as he could be. "What do you mean that it's because of you?"

As she was about to answer, the machine stopped and the man stepped out of the machine. He stood tall, looking at least forty years younger. The uniform was now stretched to the max because of his sudden build, and his age spots and wrinkles were gone.

Viper smirked. "You're looking well, Baron von Strucker."

* * *

><p>The limousine finally pulled to a stop, and the four members of the Brotherhood still in the states stepped out. They were in an abandoned construction site, and it was in a very empty place with very little for miles. Mystique paid the driver and he scurried away.<p>

"So this is where we're training?" asked Astoria, her creepy smile still on her face.

The shape-shifter nodded as she reverted to her blue-skinned form. "All right, this is how it's going to go. I'm going to put you through trials to hone your powers and peak physical stamina. Then we'll see where it goes."

"You know that with lazy kids like Archie, this will never go well, right?" Jade said, smirking toward the hydrokinetic.

The boy was outraged. "You are one to talk! Do you do anything at all?"

She was about to retort but Mystique glared at them with her yellow eyes. "Not one more word. After this is done, you'll all wish that you could be lazy."

She had apparently been working on this for a while, because she had several targets, human dummies, and punching bags set up. There looked to be several water tanks set up that shouldn't belong, and there were piles of lumber everywhere. A sort of track had been set up around the frame of the tall building they were building there.

She split them up to hone their powers, and every one of them wanted to say they already had full control. "Well then show me," she dared. "Spice, I want you to blast this piece of wood with fire so hot that it melts."

"It will burn first! It'll be in ashes!" the gothic girl cried out.

"That's why there's lots of wood. You're going to practice controlling the intensity of your flame until you can melt wood before it has a chance to be incinerated."

Astoria looked at her with a dumbstruck expression, but Mystique guided the others several feet away so that she had room to work.

Blue flames appeared above her palm, the fire waving in the wind. She concentrated, pushing power into the fireball until it radiated heat over the others faces. Astoria had no way to prove if it was hot enough, but she pushed more heat and focus into that one fireball until it was almost overflowing her palm. It was now several inches across in size, and the Brotherhood had to step back to avoid the heat. Mystique had an amused expression on her face, and wondered if Astoria could even do it.

The girl suddenly flicked her wrist and the fireball collided with one end of the piece of lumber. Almost instantly, the flames licked until they covered the entire board and slowly it turned to ash and smoke. Astoria stamped her feet and then looked to Mystique.

"It has to be hotter," the older mutant said, before turning to Archie. "Your turn." Astoria continued her flame exercises, determined now.

She guided the hydrokinetic and the other two girls over to a lone water tank sitting beside the others. "I want you to make the water inside the metal tank move so fast that it bursts the tank wide open." She neglected to tell Madidus that the metal was made of two-inch thick steel, but she wanted to influence his control and power.

Archie looked down at the water tank and took a stance. He waved his hands and felt the water inside the tank begin to move, but it showed no sign of it on the outside. He grew frustrated and began to twist the liquid inside it, trying to strike the container's walls, but it was having no effect. He clenched his fist and felt the water pressurize inside, and then opened his fist, making the water clash against the container. The tank visibly shook, but made no dent in it whatsoever.

"It might help to rotate the water inside of it and find weak-points in the metal," Mystique advised, and watched as the thug got back to work. She looked to Jade and said, "Matrix, I think you're going to like this exercise."

She guided the last two girls to a large batting cage, complete with three pitching machines. On the other end was an array of human dummies, each one either red or blue. "All right, get inside. Your goal is to speed up the pitches to hit the red targets as hard as you can, and to slow down the pitches so that the blue targets remain intact. You fail if you get hit, so don't."

Jade wasn't sure she was liking the idea, and there was no telling how fast the balls would be coming. She lined up behind the targets, figuring they could give her some cover if they needed to. When the first ball went flying, she flicked her hand and yellow light hit the ball and slowed it to a crawl and then analyzed where it was going to hit. The red target on the right. She moved out of the way and then sped the ball up, and the ball hit it with a satisfying sound.

Suddenly, she was jolted with pain and collapsed. She knew that was going to bruise. Mystique walked up to her from behind the fence. "I think the idea is to not get hit. There's three launchers, so I would advise not spending too much time on any one ball."

Jade scowled at her before standing up and getting ready for the next run.

"All right, Belle, you're job is simple: to work on your speed, I want you to run around the track in whatever fashion you think is best, but do ten laps as fast as you can. By the end of the day, I want you to have halved your run-time."

The beastly mutant shifted into her seven-foot-tall beast form and then ran toward the track. Mystique took out her stopwatch and started her time.

The shape-shifter was pleased with her team so far, but her mind drifted to Tristan. Just who was that boy?

* * *

><p>"Viper," Strucker began, looking toward the red device on her hand, "how kind of you to bring me my Claw."<p>

"Like I'm going to hand the Satan's Claw over to you." Viper scoffed. "I'm the Supreme HYDRA."

"For now," Strucker said ominously.

"Can someone please explain why it's Viper's fault you left, Dad?" asked Tristan, demanding an answer.

Strucker looked toward his son. "After the twins, your older brother and sister, died, my control over HYDRA began to wane. I noticed sides starting to form, and I feared a schism. My health was starting to sour, and Viper suggested that I leave everything behind to find this machine. Naturally, she took control while I was gone, but that really isn't the point."

"So you left because she told you to?" Tristan asked. "And how did the Claw end up in Xavier's possession?"

"Yes, I left, but I have no remorse for what I did. Viper, secretly, was planning my assassination. I did it for my best interests, and I do not apologize for what happened."

"Ah, that's your famous cold-heartedness," Viper sneered. The guards behind her didn't look fazed.

Tristan didn't know what to think, but refused to dwell on it. Adrenaline was pumping through his body, just waiting for the right moment to strike to help his father get out of here. "You never answered my second question."

"Oh, yes. Xavier. Let's just say that he…stole the Claw from me, and I want it back," Strucker said, but Viper scoffed. She raised her hands to the guards, and their guns trained on the former Supreme HYDRA.

Before they could fire, Tristan's hands shot up with record-breaking speed and he fired two shots, one from each pointer finger, like a play gun. The red lasers shot across the dome and hit both guards in the neck. Needless to say, they both dropped to the floor, unmoving.

Viper glared at him. He fired a third shot in the same direction, but she flicked up the Claw and a small red force-field blocked and absorbed the strike.

"Come on!" Strucker yelled, grabbing his son's arm and dragging him toward the exit.

Tristan fired another shot at Viper but it ended with the same result. The woman reached for a gun at her back and brought out a small pistol. Strucker sped up, and they finally reached the circular door. It opened quickly just as shots rang out.

Tristan screamed before he even knew what happened. He clutched his arm, blood pouring out of the hole in his arm. Strucker lifted the boy into his arms and ran ahead, into the desert. Tristan was vaguely aware of more shots being fired, but soon enough, Strucker had hijacked Viper's escort copter and was flying away from the scene.

The last thing Tristan saw before blacking out was his father's unsatisfied frown.

* * *

><p>When Tristan awoke, he was lying on a very rough-feeling couch, a spring jabbing into his back. He opened his eyes and saw the familiar ceiling of the run-down Brotherhood of Bayville House, and then frowned when he remembered what happened. How he had ended those two men's lives, and even though he had killed once before, you never forget. Tears came to his eyes.<p>

He moved his right arm to wipe them away and immediately winced, the pain from the bullet cutting through the muscle throbbing. He brought his left sleeve up and wiped his eyes.

"Oh, he's awake!" Astoria said, and Tristan wondered why her face was covered in soot. Of course, she was pyrokinetic so it probably was just part of the job.

The other members rushed over and asked how he was feeling and he finally just shrugged them all off. Mystique smirked down at him, before telling them all to go upstairs. They complied after a time, and she sat on the coffee-table next to him. "I think you owe me an explanation now."

He swallowed, not having time to think of a proper response. Should he blow his cover? Then he remembered that he had kind of betrayed HYDRA, so he doubted that he even had a cover at all now.

"First, how or when did I get here?" he asked.

"Someone dropped you off in the middle of the night, and snuck into the house and dropped you on the couch. Lily heard and smelled you coming, but whoever did it was gone before anyone could get him," Mystique explained.

Tristan sighed. "It must have been my dad."

"Your dad? Is that why you left? Why was your dad in the Sahara Desert?"

He groaned. "Let me start from the beginning. I'm an agent of HYDRA's assassin squad and mutant division. HYDRA is an organization that was founded by my father during World War II, and it was sort of an occult branch of the Third Reich. Now it's something else entirely, but I won't bore you with the details.

"My dad was obsessed with augmenting himself into a super-soldier, and he found a way to slow his aging with a serum. My dad had two kids before me with his wife, but they were poisoned and no one understood why. I was born from a secret affair, but that isn't really the point. When my powers manifested, HYDRA appeared and I joined to be closer to my father. But soon after that, he left without explanation, and now I know he went into hiding. Without me.

"Viper, one of the agents of HYDRA, took command of the organization. She was the one who ordered me here, and I was supposed to report back to her on yours and Xavier's activities. But none of that matters now anyway. Another agent, the guy I was talking to in the alleyway, found out where my dad was. I had to get there, and thanks to you, I did.

"The Rebirth machine, a device powerful enough to physically reverse the effects of aging back to a person's prime, was why my father was in the Sahara. He was dying, and I revived him with the machine. But Viper showed up, planning to kill us both, but we got away, I guess." Tristan pointed to the bandage wrapped around his arm. "Although I got shot by Viper."

"So you were sent here as a spy?" Mystique asked, anger nearly pouring off of her face.

"Yes, but since I betrayed HYDRA, I don't have to report to them anymore. Besides, I need a place to stay. I was honest with you, completely honest. You can trust me: my allegiance is with you and the Brotherhood." Tristan was practically pleading.

Mystique just stood up. "I don't see any reason why I shouldn't trust you now. But I swear, if I ever catch you doing anything funny, I will kick you from here to the end of time."

The boy nodded. "Of course. I wouldn't have it any other way."

* * *

><p><strong>Was it okay? I hope you liked the little tid-bit about HYDRA and Tristan's past, and the little Brotherhood training scene. Was Mystique believable in her reaction to Tristan's story? I know she probably wasn't, but please, review and tell me what you think!<strong>

**Only one more chapter before Cauldron! Grim Reminder shouldn't take very long, so I should have it out within a few days. Cauldron, however, might. I still haven't got all of my twists from the original plot planned out, but I'm working on it. ;)**

**On a related note, Season Two now has a basic outline. I hope that it will help me get chapters out sooner. :) **


	18. Grim Reminder: An Echo from the Past

**I have been a very busy bee! I hope you enjoy this chapter! And the Score Card is on my profile!**

* * *

><p><em>Grim Reminder:<em>  
><em>An Echo from the Past<em>

Lights flashed on to reveal a green tank in a dim, dark room. The bulky man within was attached to tubes allowing him to breathe, and green liquid formed bubbles as he exhaled. It took a moment, but the man finally opened his eyes.

His first instinct was to fight, for he had no idea where he was. He called out his bone claws, not aware that they had…changed. He sliced through the glass like butter, and he emptied out into the room, the air cool against his bare skin.

He weakly walked forward, his breathing ragged as he tried to detach the tubes from his body. Before he knew it, he was outside and he ran through the Canadian pines, stopping only to sniff.

Images flashed before his eyes, and he struggled to remember. A bald man with an almost cone-shaped head and weird goggles stuck out in his mind, and he clutched his head in agony. A brooding figure appeared before him, casting a large shadow.

He suddenly screamed out, landing on the ground. He stood slowly, realizing he was in his bedroom at the mansion. He took in the moment, sighing as he realized it had been a dream.

* * *

><p>The alarm rang, and the girl groaned, her hair a mess. She glowed with white light and her clone lazily pressed the alarm button, before scowling at the original Rivera. The multiplying girl simply returned the clone to her body before getting up and absently heading to the bathroom.<p>

Before she could even knock, the door opened to reveal a very un-made-up Ava with a hair-brush in her hair and a sour look on her face. "Oh, no. Sorry, but you'll have to wait your turn."

Rivera scowled. "What a team player."

She headed back to her room and absently got ready, putting on whatever was cleanest. After she felt satisfied about her appearance, she plopped down on her bed and grabbed her computer.

"Dear Dani, today started out like all the other school days," she read as she typed. "Ava totally hogged the bathroom, and I swear she can be a real hog sometimes. I have often wondered if I could get away with roundhouse kicking her in the face, but she'd probably just electrocute me from here to next week. Things are crowded at the Institute, and I hear Xavier talking about new students more and more each day. I can't imagine what bathroom time would be like if we had a full house."

Dean walked into the room, looking cute with her warm-climate red hair. Rivera frowned and added, "At least my roommate Dean is nice. She's quiet, but when you consider her mutation, I'd be quiet too. She's actually a really cool girl when you hang around her." As she said it, the girl pulled out the hair-dryer and began to loudly dry her hair. "Of course, for such a quiet girl, even she can be loud."

Rivera closed her laptop to search for a quieter place, one with less talking. As she headed down the hall, she wasn't paying attention and was shoved out of the way by a pajama-clad Kris. The others walked by, not seeming to care if they ran right over her. She frowned and headed toward the kitchen.

"Finding a place to be alone around here is really a matter of timing," she typed as she sat on the dining table. "Sometimes you just have to settle. Like when Logan is around. But he's not the type to want to be around anyone, so he doesn't want to talk to anybody." She said as she watched Logan drink his coffee and read the morning paper.

"What's the matter, Cloner? Am I reading too loudly for ya?" the man asked, and she smiled nervously.

"Um, no. I'm just enjoying how quiet it is."

Almost as soon as she said it, she may as well have been asking for the most inopportune thing possible. The kids began to file in for breakfast, as loudly as they could possibly be. Most didn't acknowledge her existence as they reached over her for the salt and pepper. Ava turned on the television and began to sip her coffee.

Logan looked up and caught something on the news. He turned the volume up loudly with the remote, eventually silencing them all. The news report said something about the Canadian wilderness, and Rivera wondered why that would appeal to him.

"It's like sometimes, Logan can be so incredibly rude. I guess he could chalk it up to his animal side, but he was still a human being. What happened to common courtesy?"

Suddenly, Logan walked off, saying something about "Mount McKenna." He dropped the remote, and the look on his face was one of complete discomfort.

"You okay, Logan?" asked Ava, bravely sipping her coffee, but the older mutant just ignored her and walked out the door.

"Professor Xavier always allows Logan to go off, sometimes. I have never understood it, since he's always talking about family values. But Logan seems to not care about that stuff sometimes," she typed, wondering. "This whole lone-wolf, or should I say 'wolverine,' thing can get rather annoying. His life is not so much tougher than ours, is it?"

Just then, they heard a crash and a shout, and Kris nearly went to go investigate, but Ava shook her head. "No, it's just Wolverine. Give him some time."

Rivera grabbed her computer and went to investigate anyways, but no one else was brave enough. Just as she approached the door, the ends of Logan's claws sliced through the thick wood and she jumped backward, startled.

"Logan, are you all right?" she asked when he appeared from the other side of the door, clutching his head hard.

After a moment, he muttered, "Yeah. Fine, just…redecorating." And with that, the man walked off and Rivera thought it best not to follow.

As she approached the den to hopefully get some alone time, Kris was already there, lying haphazardly across the couch. He was sparking softly against the fabric as he lazily watched television, and didn't seem to care that he could burn a hole through the couch.

"Kris, you're sparking all over the furniture! What's Xavier going to think if you damage it?" she exclaimed, but Kris just shrugged and stood, stretching and scattering sparks all over the floor. It was a wonder that nothing caught on fire.

"Eh, he's rich. He can replace it," the boy muttered before heading to another room, probably to avoid Rivera.

The girl plopped down on the sofa after checking for burn-marks and was thankful that there weren't any in sight. She opened her laptop and continued to write. "Geez, Kris might be one of the oldest of us, but he could be the most immature. Alex might be one to joke around, but Kris is just plain uncaring sometimes." When she heard the sound of approaching footsteps, she groaned and headed outside.

She expertly climbed a tree and got as comfortable as she could, before opening her laptop once more. Alex was working on his motorcycle, and she smiled. "Alex is one of the nicest guys around. Most of the time, he is completely hilarious, and he loves to eat. Part of that comes with his powers, but he means well." Just as she said it, the bike blasted to life and she nearly fell right out of the tree. She groaned as he sped off, not bothering to put on a helmet until he was gone. "And other times, he can be as selfish as they come."

She turned around and saw Xavier and Logan pacing out on the balcony outside. "Thank goodness for Professor Xavier. He and Ororo keep things moving smoothly around here. And that's not the easiest job description in the world, let me tell you. Especially with Logan, and I'll bet that he really gets after him for trashing his room."

* * *

><p>Xavier looked toward Logan kindly, his hands folded on his lap as the feral mutant paced back and forth.<p>

"Something in that news story; I-I don't know what, set me off," Logan grumbled.

"Well, let's talk about it," the telepath said kindly. "Sit down."

Wolverine sat, obviously not comfortable with sitting. "Charles, there's something in my head. Buried there. How's about you get inside and see if you can't pry it loose?"

Xavier nodded, rolling forward. "All right. But first you need to relax."

Logan scoffed. "Uh, yeah. Easy for you to say."

The telepath touched his head and entered the man's mind, delving deep to the root of the problem. Memories spread out before Xavier, and he used Logan's thoughts about his nightmare as a guide. He caught images, flashes, strange men and figures that he didn't know. Logan cried out and Xavier retreated.

"Ugh, please. Tell me that was just a dream or something."

"No," Xavier said warily. "A memory. Long forgotten, or rather, suppressed. I believe that was a glimpse of how you came to acquire your unusual implements. Do you wish to continue?"

Logan shrugged. "Go for it."

After another dive in, Logan cried out and said, "Whatever happened to me, it all started there. With that ghoul in the black coat. He's the guy who did this!" His claws shot out. "I gotta go."

Xavier caught his arm. "You're going there, aren't you? To that mountain from the news and from your nightmares?"

Logan shrugged away Xavier's hand. "Happen to pick that up while you were inside my head?"

As he walked off, Xavier called out, "Do you want company?"

"Do I ever?"

* * *

><p>Rivera finally took the last resort, getting into the sublevels and into the jet. She was sitting in the back room of the Blackbird, typing on her laptop. "Well, I had better sign off. Somebody is bound to show up at any given moment to interrupt me again. Besides, I'm about late for school."<p>

Suddenly, the door opened to reveal Grant in all his gold-skinned glory. "Oh, I didn't realize anyone was in here. Xavier asked me to check out the jet's systems. Why are you in here?"

Rivera groaned, nearly wanting to just drop Grant right where he stood. "Well, it's about the only place where I can get some alone-time around here."

The malleable mutant nodded. "I know how you feel. Everyone is just so loud and obnoxious sometimes. Kris is the most annoying roommate in existence too."

"I can imagine," she said, standing. "Well, I had better get to school. Good luck with the jet."

Suddenly, without warning, said jet took off with a flash, scattering them both to the floor. Grant and Rivera both looked at each other in shock as they ascended very rapidly. When they finally stabilized, Grant opened the door to the cockpit and revealed Logan at the helm, dressed in his battle gear.

"What's he doing?" Rivera asked.

Grant shrugged. "I don't know, but I'm about to find out."

"Be careful," she warned. "He's been acting strange all morning."

"Oh, don't be dramatic," he said. "Based on my analysis, he doesn't look any different than normal."

The stretching mutant crept up to him closely, and as soon as he touched the man's shoulder, Logan turned and nearly sliced him to bits. If not for Grant stretching out of Wolverine's reach at the last minute, he'd be missing his head.

Rivera gasped in shock. Grant muttered, "My mistake," and stretched out of Logan's way and back to Rivera so fast he almost looked like a liquid.

"Still think I'm be dramatic, analysis boy?" Rivera asked, crouching behind the back wall.

"Actually, no, I don't," he muttered, shell-shocked.

"Encage auto-pilot," Logan muttered, groaning between words. He stood and both younger mutants nearly flinched as he looked like he was about to skewer them both.

"Why…are you…following me?" he exclaimed between clenched teeth, obviously in pain.

"We're not following you," Rivera said.

"Yeah, I was just here to analyze the pressure sensors, the fuel pumps, and the cloaking mechanisms," Grant said, but before he could go on with his list, Rivera squeezed his shoulder to tell him to stop.

Logan groaned again, before slicing at both of them. Grant yanked them both out of the way and pulled them into a corner. "I've got to take you back before….Get out of here… Don't trust me, something…in my head! Controlling me!" he muttered, an inward battle being fought. He pressed a button and the door slid open, but at the last second, he sliced his claw through from the top, leaving three long slashes right through the metal.

"He locked us out!" Rivera exclaimed.

"No, he locked himself in," Grant corrected, "so we'd be safe."

"There's a crazy person piloting the jet," she said, worried. "You call that _safe?_"

"We're too high up to get out of here. I might be able to somehow soften the landing with my powers, but I'd hate to try it. We're too high up and going way too fast," the boy said, frowning.

"Well, then we're stuck on this flight," Rivera said. "Question is, where are we flying to?"

* * *

><p>When the plane finally landed, Grant and Rivera, now dressed in their respective uniforms, waited until the coast was clear before heading out to follow Logan.<p>

"It stinks that the communications system is jammed," Grant said. "Something out here must be causing wave interference of some kind. Could be a form of radiation, or a magnetic interference?"

She sighed and grabbed his arm. "Come on, Big Brain. Let's follow Logan's footprints in the snow."

Not too far ahead, the feral mutant was sniffing, trying to find something of value.

* * *

><p>"Excellent," a voice said, looking intently at a diagram of someone's brain on a computer. "You see, the chip in Logan's head is still active, after all these years." He heard his faithful servant step forward at the sight of Logan on the screen. "Oh, I did such good work in those days. And yet, through sheer force of will, he's managed to subdue it…until now."<p>

"Why now?" asked the beastly voice.

"Oh, I suppose he just got too comfortable with Xavier. Let his guard down," the man said. "Certain news footage did the rest. Isn't that right, Bigfoot?"

The shadowy figure stepped forward, growling. "Don't call me that!"

"Tell you what, Sabretooth," said the man. "Why don't you go greet our old colleague?"

The mutant growled and walked off, and the man looked over his computer panel and twisted a dial, making a power gauge go up.

* * *

><p>Logan sniffed the air, and immediately smelled something rancid. Something he hadn't smelled in a couple months. He looked over and saw the greasy-haired mutant jump forward and slash through the air, knocking the X-Man down.<p>

"Wolverine!"

"Sabretooth! I thought something stunk about this forest!" Logan grunted, before the mutant rushed him.

He dodged the first three or four strikes before crashing into a boulder behind him. It was enough of a distraction for Sabretooth to aim for his throat, but Wolverine spun away just in time to see Sabretooth's claw get stuck in the rock. Sabretooth spun and slashed at him, but the other mutant grabbed hold of the tree and double-kicked the man in the chest.

Sabretooth growled and then lifted the huge rock right out of the ground, and then hurled it at Wolverine, who spun out of the way just in time. Logan jumped on Victor and pummeled him into the ground, and then spun off.

"All right, pus bub. Playtime's over," he said, his claws extending. "It's time for some answers."

"You'll get your answers, Wolverine," said a voice, and Logan spun around to see the bald man from his nightmares. "But you'll wish you hadn't." He twisted a dial on the device in his hand and without warning, pain shot in Wolverine's head. His claws retracted as the man fell to the ground, and Sabretooth kicked him in the back hard.

"Ah, welcome home."

* * *

><p>Logan stared suspiciously at the bald man in his base, the dark light of the scientist's lab making him barely visible.<p>

"You've aged remarkably well, Logan, if at all," the man said. "Your recuperative powers have served you well. Now, it's time they served me. Especially since your…enhancements represent quite the financial investments."

Logan looked over to see the image from his nightmare, the tube that he clawed his way out of and the trashed lab. "Who…Who ordered it?" he grumbled.

"What?" the man asked. "That adamantium skeleton of yours? I can hardly believe that you haven't figured that out by now." With that the door opened to reveal Sabretooth walking in. "Ah, Bigfoot. Are we ready for training?"

"Oh, we are," the growling mutant said.

The scientist pressed a button that revealed a security feed with Rivera and Grant in the woods. "Ah, and here's our test subjects in position as well."

"No!" Wolverine yelled, but the man turned the dial and the pain ripped through his head.

"It's time to continue your development, Project: Weapon X, as the ultimate mutant slayers," the man said, turning up the dial once more.

* * *

><p>"It's like he just disappeared," Rivera said, scouring the area for Logan. Her two clones split up and looked on their own, hoping to cover more ground. Grant was stretched up a tree, looking from the tallest of branches.<p>

"Well, he's back!" the malleable mutant said as he retracted his body, pointing to the formation of rocks nearby. The fog was thick, but Wolverine stood on the tallest rock, obviously looking for something.

"Logan! Over here!" the multiplying mutant said as she waved.

When Sabretooth appeared behind him, and the two weren't fighting, both mutants could tell something was wrong. "Looks like he brought a friend," Rivera said, pulling on Grant's arm to retreat.

"But they have never been on good terms. Something's off," Grant said as he and Rivera both began to run down the slope of the mountain.

"That's obvious," the girl said, running. "Faster! They're gaining on us!"

They heard the familiar _SNIKT_ of Logan's claws, and Rivera immediately called her clones back to her. The man sped up and sliced at the girl, but she rolled out of the way and right down a cliff.

"Rivera!" Grant yelled, about to stretch out to help the girl sliding down the steep cliff, but Sabretooth lunged at him and tackled him to the ground. The beast sliced at him, but thankfully, he had enough room to move. He slid his body in a way that reminded him of gum and stretched out from under the mutant's body, and then plastered himself on top of him. He wrapped his arms and legs around the struggling mutant and managed to stop him from moving.

Well, until Logan rushed him. Grant twisted, flinging the feral mutant at the older X-Man, and it was enough of a distraction to get away.

Rivera continued to fall, ignoring the painful throbbing on her shoulders and back as she finally quit tumbling. But when Logan suddenly leapt down to appear in front of her, she gasped.

"Logan!" she pleaded, getting ready to do whatever she needed to get away. The man stalked closer, his claws out-stretched. "It's me! What's the matter with you?"

For a moment, he struggled inwardly. She managed to get through to him, and Logan muttered, "Rivera!" He groaned, in pain, as he tried to retract from her but the control over him was too great.

"I know you aren't yourself, but you need to get a hold of it! We're your friends, your allies! Fight it Logan!"

He suddenly screeched in pain and then snarled at her, and she managed to dash away just in time. She matched him step for step, using her mimicking power to copy his movements in hopes that it might give her some sort of advantage. She dashed around a tree, but he managed to slice clean through it and it nearly toppled over her.

She tripled, and the three Riveras spread out. For a moment, it was obvious that she had confused him, but his animalistic mind found the only one who was making noise. He charged and she withdrew her clones, fearing what happened when Sabretooth had injured one of them. She kept running, and ended up dodging more falling trees and at the edge of another damned cliff.

* * *

><p>"Echo!" Grant yelled, still running from Sabretooth. "Echo!"<p>

Without warning, a beastly growl erupted from overhead and he looked up just in time to see Sabretooth falling from a tree, aiming right toward him with his fingernail claws. Grant's eyes widened and he stretched away just in time, and then continued to run toward him.

Using his quick mind, he wrapped both arms around a tree and ran, caught slack, and then sling-shotted himself right at Sabretooth. He stepped onto the beastly mutant and jumped, agilely swinging up tree branches before settling on a high one. He stared down only to see Victor start to ascend.

"Hmm, I wondered if he was feline based. I guess he is, and he can climb too."

Just as the mutant got close, Grant jumped off as far away from the tree as he could get it, and then slowly formed his arms into a parachute. It slowed his descent enough so that he could roll when he got to the ground, but Sabretooth was still very close on his heels.

As it slowly began to rain, Grant sped up and saw a ravine cut by a river below. He ran as fast as he could, and as he got to the last step, Sabretooth hot on his heels, he stretched out and stepped over the wide crack, settling carefully on the other side. With no way across, Sabretooth took a running start and jumped, but Grant knew based on his trajectory, weight, and overall strength level, he wouldn't make it. And he didn't. The mutant went tumbling into the waters below.

* * *

><p>Rivera stood at the edge of the cliff and watched the orange-uniformed mutant approach. It was obvious the mutant was fighting the influence again, and Rivera calmly stepped forward.<p>

"Logan, you can fight it. I know you can. You would never lose yourself!" she said. "You're stronger than this! I know you can do it!"

The claws drew closer and that's when Grant appeared behind her. He almost intervened, but she shook her head. "No! I'm reaching him!" She leaned forward and pushed away Logan's mask, revealing the man's eyes. "It's me! Remember? Rivera! Cloner! I know we've trained together, and I know that you can control yourself Logan! Please! Try! We had breakfast together just his morning! Do you really want to hurt me, Logan?"

At that, his face mellowed and it was obvious that he was wondering how he was capable of doing this to her. To them. He collapsed and she drew him in a quick hug.

"Wrong move!" someone suddenly yelled and Sabretooth flung Wolverine off of the cliff, and they landed hard on the ground below. Wolverine flipped Sabretooth into a tree, and it smashed apart and fell to the ground.

"He's taking control!" Grant yelled as they watched the two run toward the mountain.

"Come on!"

* * *

><p>"Sabretooth, where is Wolverine?" asked the scientist, his voice worried.<p>

The feral mutant called down from the ladder. "He's in the lab!"

"Well, then get down here and protect me!"

Just as he said it, adamantium claws ripped through the steel door, and the man turned toward the dial. "Don't make me do this, Logan! You're too valuable!" He turned it up to well past ninety percent.

Sabretooth jumped into the lab and walked down the metal walkway to find Logan. Suddenly the two Rivera clones appeared with a white flash and grappled with him. Grant stretched forward like a snake and wrapped himself around the man's legs, dropping him to the ground.

"Let me go!" the man growled, but the two young mutants just laughed.

"Yeah, right," Rivera murmured as he clones disappeared.

* * *

><p>Logan suddenly cut through the door into the man's lab. "I warned you!" the scientist yelled, turning up the dial to maximum force. Logan dropped to the ground just as several red security drones were summoned.<p>

Logan, now in a blind rage from the pain in his head, quickly took out the security drones with a few swipes of his claws, but three more suddenly appeared and he was wrapped up in metallic tentacles, unable to escape.

Rivera and Grant suddenly appeared after knocking Sabretooth unconscious, and the malleable mutant immediately entangled himself in the drones, trying to force them off of Logan. The tripling mutant ran toward the scientist, and knocked him away from the control panel. She summoned her clones and they held him down.

"My work!" he yelled. "My ingenious work!"

Rivera had to try not to laugh as she smashed the control panel with the man's chair. It was quick, but soon enough, the entire computer was sparking.

Logan finally got an arm loose and sliced through a drone, dropping to the ground. He made quick work of the last two and then eyed the man who had tormented them all these years. "You caged the wrong animal, bub!" he said, approaching him as fire began to sweep through the area.

"No, you fool!" the man yelled, gesturing around him. "This place is going to blow!"

"Get out of here!" Logan yelled, but Rivera ran toward him, recalling her clones.

"Not without you!"

Grant suddenly appeared and grabbed her arm. "Sorry, but we've got to get out of here. His healing factor will protect him!" They ran as fast as they could.

* * *

><p>Finally, the base exploded. Rivera and Grant watched the explosion and Rivera immediately began to worry, as debris and snow rushed down the mountain. "Is he going to be all right?"<p>

"He should. The explosion wouldn't have been powerful enough to overpower his healing factor," explained Grant, trying to sound smart to stop Rivera from worrying. But in truth, he couldn't be sure.

After several minutes, the battered figure of Logan appeared and the two young X-Men smiled in relief. "Logan!" But before they could do anything, the man collapsed.

"Weapon X is terminated," were his last words before he lost consciousness.

* * *

><p>Logan groggily awoke, briefly aware of the ceiling of the medical bay. He groaned and rubbed his head, before suddenly rushing forward, breathing heavily.<p>

"Relax, my friend," said the wise voice of Xavier. "You're back at the Institute. You're safe."

He calmed carefully before his eyes widened. "What about the kids?"

"They're both fine. Rivera has been in here every hour since the surgery. We've removed the chip. Is there any pain?"

"Yeah, but, uh, not from the wound. Some day though, I'm going to find out who had this done to me." Logan lied back down on the bed and let sleep overtake him.

* * *

><p>Grant stood at the door, trying to calm down the others from rushing into the dining room. "All right, all right. She needs her space, all right? You aren't going to starve to death for five more minutes."<p>

Inside the dining room, Rivera sat at the table on her laptop, relishing in the quiet. "So, like I said this morning, it's just been another relatively normal day at the Institute. Grant has been trying to give me some space from the others so I can be alone, but you know what, we're never satisfied. I kind of miss bumping into everyone. I guess that's what you get when you are part of a family.

* * *

><p><strong>I cannot believe that I wrote that all in one sitting. Maybe that reflects in my writing, but I just wanted to get this chapter out of the way so that I can get to writing the season finale. I'm going to take a break for a few days, maybe writing a little here and there. But I want Season One to be over with by the 15<strong>**th**** of August. I'm pretty sure that I can do it!**


	19. Cauldron: Sanctuary

Cauldron:  
>Sanctuary<p>

The motorcycle sped into the gates of the Institute, followed only by the gun-metal convertible. Ava_ tsked_ from behind the steering wheel of her car as Alex's bike nearly careened into the Institute, and only skidded to a stop at the last possible moment.

He jumped off, threw down his helmet, and said, "All right, guys! School's out and it's taco night!"

Ava pulled to a stop behind him and rushed off to join him, the others following suit with a laugh. Only Dean stayed behind, but as she quietly picked up her books for her weekend homework, she heard a strange rustling nearby.

She sat her books down and went to quietly investigate, heading deeper into the woods as she went. "Is anyone there?" she asked calmly.

That's when a familiar gothic girl with blue bangs stepped out of the trees, a weird smile plastered on her face. "Oh, hello, Winter Rose, or whatever it is you call yourself. I'd chat with you, but I'd rather live to see tomorrow." She snapped her fingers and a blue flame danced on her fingertips. Dean's eyes widened.

"Spice, what are you doing?" she asked, not caring what her voice sounded like. If it bothered the pyrokinetic, Astoria didn't show it.

"I'm getting a jump on the competition!" Flames shot out and the Inuit girl rolled away, dodging them carefully. Astoria waved her hands and generated a wave of fire, but as it approached, Dean cart-wheeled backwards and the attack caught the nearby trees on fire.

The mutant continued the fiery onslaught, blasting the girl with flame after flame but Dean managed to dodge every one of them, moving in a circle to close in on the mutant. Logan had been working with her on her evasion skills, since her powers might not always work and she needed to know how to get away.

"It's over, Astoria. Sleep!" Dean said, and it took mere moments for the command to take effect. The blue-banged girl collapsed, unconscious and the flames faded out of existence.

Suddenly, there was a ringing sound, something strange. It wasn't a loud sound, but it was enough to surprise her. A huge metallic ball seemingly dropped out of the sky and landed with a loud thump onto the ground. Dean stared, dumbstruck. The ball opened up at the top and without warning, metal tentacles shot out and grabbed the voice manipulator, sucking her inside. She screamed, but there was no one around to hear her.

Astoria groaned awake just as the sphere rose and shot off into the sky. She stamped her foot loudly. "Come back! I could have still won! It should have been me up there, not that silent freak!"

* * *

><p>The young mutant sat on the beach, staring up at the sky. It was one of her favorite things to do, when she wasn't joking around with her brother.<p>

She looked around at the near empty beach, and wondered why there were only two couples here. That was no fun. Where were the single people that she could force to make a love connection?

The girl was reminded of what happened back in Bayville, all the way across the continental U.S. She had accidently forced two mutants together, and she left the X-Men of her own accord because she was rubbing some of them the wrong way. She frowned and wondered why she had even left.

But now, she knew that with _his_ help, she had managed to control her mutant abilities even more than before. And she didn't need Xavier and his ideals to do it.

She sat up on her towel, sniffing in the sea air.

She looked out onto the horizon, and that's when she saw it. Someone was splashing frantically, and her eyes widened. The girl was only thirteen, maybe twelve, and it was obvious to Mandi that she didn't have control over herself. Maybe she had gotten caught in a current.

She looked around frantically, but there was no lifeguard on duty. She cursed and ran into the water, hoping that she could use her powers in the ocean. She had never done it before, but she wondered if the water would mess with her chains.

She felt the current pulling her, and it was surprisingly strong too. The girl was crying out for someone, something that she couldn't understand. For a minute, she thought that girl had said, "Wolf!" but it was probably just a mistake.

Making sure no one was watching, Mandi slid her hands through the air and made her chain appear, glowing slightly with pink light. She snaked it through the water and wrapped it around the girl's abdomen, and the girl screamed when it happened.

"It's all right, honey," Mandi coaxed, using the chain as a focus to send calming emotions into the girl. "I'm gonna get you back to shore."

Mandi extended the chain and then threw it toward shore, making it dig into the sand. She sputtered as the water rose and fell, and for a moment, she thought she might have been yanked away, but she held tight to her chain. Mandi powerfully swam away from the flow of the current, pulling the scared, screaming girl behind her.

When she finally managed to place her feet firmly into the sand below the water, she pulled on her chain and yanked the girl to safety. After she was sure that she was out of the current, she made the chain vanish into thin air.

"It's okay! You're on the ground now!" Mandi said, hugging the girl tightly.

At that moment, a strange-looking boy wearing too much red and black clothing to be at the beach dashed toward them and took the girl from her. He mumbled his thanks and then walked the girl to safety.

Mandi plopped onto the ground, feeling great that she had saved someone without exposing the mutant population.

"You did excellent, my young Bliss," said a voice. It was almost a familiar voice, like she had heard it before. She opened her eyes and saw the figure dressed in purple and red armor. Definitely not beach-wear, even worse than that weird looking boy's clothes.

"Ah, it's all thanks to you," Mandi said as she rose, "Magneto."

* * *

><p>Logan walked into the large spherical room to see the professor at the end of the pathway with the helmet on his head. He admired the metallic room and smirked.<p>

"Ah, I see the upgrades to Cerebro are done," the Canadian mutant grumbled. "Why'd you upgrade it again exactly?"

"I felt a change was necessary, and this version is much more efficient," Xavier answered, adjusting the headband. "And it's discovered the emergence of a new mutant, a potentially powerful one." The screen popped up as Logan looked over the man's shoulder, showing a girl about sixteen with blue-black hair and a very thin, petite figure. Burn scars covered her arms, and Wolverine popped up an eyebrow.

"What's her deal?" he asked, a little concerned for her.

Suddenly, the screen went blank, and the whirring of a generator in the background thudded to a stop. Xavier clutched his head and pulled away the headband, rubbing his temples carefully while breathing hard.

"What happened?" Logan asked, alarmed.

"Some sort of telepathic interference. It cut me off from Cerebro," Xavier said.

Wolverine's eyes widened. "Is that even possible? I thought Cerebro amplified your powers, Charles."

The professor stared at the blank screen, tempted to try again. "It does. And it is all the more alarming that someone was powerful enough to stop me."

"So should we investigate? Where was the kid?"

"California," Xavier said. "Have Ava meet us in the hangar and get the jet ready. We should prepare for trouble. I doubt we're the only ones interested in this girl."

* * *

><p>Ava walked up to the jet, a bag in one hand. She was antsy, partly because she was returning to California where she grew up and partly because she was the only one Xavier called on. The one that he asked to help on this excursion, and she knew she couldn't fail him. Even though it had interrupted one of her trips to the mall.<p>

Xavier explained the parameters of the trip to her while they boarded the Blackbird. "So it is imperative that you are vigilant and extra careful, as there is something else going on. Something that I don't quite understand, and I can't shake the feeling that there is someone toying with us."

"I promise I will be careful, Xavier," she pledged, feeling the jet begin to fire up. "I have to ask why you picked me. Surely someone else can do a better job?"

"I considered bringing the others along, but I felt as though you could reach this girl best," the telepath explained. He left it at that, and Ava pondered it a bit. She slid into the seat and strapped the seat belt and felt the jet liftoff, Logan and Xavier at the helm.

* * *

><p>Rivera ran into the hangar, carrying bags of beach supplies and already dressed in her one-piece bathing suit, underneath a big white t-shirt. The beach was one of her favorite places on earth, and she loved to soak in the surf.<p>

Alex, Grant, and Kris followed, each similarly dressed in trunks and t-shirts and carrying random supplies. Kris's orange surfboard fell to the ground and he stomped his foot.

"Why's the jet leaving?" he asked incredulously.

Rivera looked up, too wrapped up in the idea of heading to California that she hadn't noticed that the jet was taking off as they spoke. "Oh no!"

"Crap! I heard the boardwalk nachos are the best!" Alex groaned, his beach chair clattering to the floor.

Grant scowled, ready for some much needed relaxation. His image inducer had been on the fritz recently, and he had been hard at work trying to repair it. Xavier helped whenever he could, but it just wasn't the same. He half-expected it to quit working altogether.

"Well, we're still going to the beach," she said, smiling before heading back to the hallway. The others followed, bewildered.

"What do you mean?" asked Grant. "The jet's already left."

"Ava can head to California all she wants," she explained. "We're going to the nearest beach we can find."

They understood her meaning and grabbed their gear and followed her to the garage. After making sure that they were fully ready and their stuff packed away, Rivera pounded down the stairs and into the garage to meet the waiting boys.

"C'mon, Echo, or Storm'll crash our plans," Kris called and she jumped into the back of the huge armored X-Van.

"Oh, hush, Kris. She's been on a shopping run all day," the girl said as she buckled her seat belt. "I couldn't find Dean so I left her a note."

They eased out of the garage, almost immediately running into a tan stray cat. Alex slammed the breaks, pushing everyone forward. As Rivera's head hit the seat, a white flash erupted and suddenly the seat was way overcrowded, and Grant was practically flattened like a pancake against the leather.

"Hey! Watch it!" he yelled, his voice muffled by one of the Rivera's backs.

"Sorry!" the real Rivera said, before calling back her clones with another white flash of light. "I'm still getting the hang of things."

Grant suddenly _popped_ up like a rubber band, bouncing back after being smushed. "It's all right, I suppose."

Alex and Kris were cackling loudly, tears coming to Alex's eyes. Grant shot him a look but soon enough, all four of them were laughing. They pulled out of the driveway, laughing and ready to have a good time.

Little did they know, not three feet from them in a bush, the cat slowly morphed into a human shape and revealed Mystique. She spoke into her wrist, where a simple communicator was bound. "They're on the move."

The voice of Tristan on the other line erupted from it, and she could imagine the grin on his face. "Not for long."

* * *

><p>"Are you sure you can land this thing here?" asked Ava as they approached the empty beach. "California can get pretty crowded this time of year."<p>

Xavier nodded, looking over his shoulder at the weather manipulator. "It's a private beach. I can't detect any minds nearby, but there's definitely a presence here." He shared a look with Wolverine, who grunted after a moment. Ava had been with Xavier long enough to recognize when Xavier had conversations with him mentally.

"Can somebody clue me in? Do you know who could be involved?"

Neither one answered, but Ava thought she heard Logan say something about magnets. What in the world could he mean by that?

The jet settled to a stop, and Xavier looked toward his team. "This is the most direct point that Cerebro could get before I was…interrupted. There might be some clues out there."

The two nodded before leaving the jet, not bothering to change out of street clothes. Ava wandered in a different direction, admiring the feel of the ocean breeze and the smell of the water. It reminded her so much of home that she had almost missed the footprints leading away from the area.

"Guys, I think I found something," she said, pointing down.

There was a single set of footsteps, and next to it was a thin line that seemed to be trailed in the earth, almost like something was dragged across it. It was a thin line, but it was obvious that something had made that impression. When the footsteps by it disappeared, Logan's eyes widened.

"Magneto," he growled, angrily sniffing the air.

Ava gaped at him. "'Magneto'? Is that some kind of magnet?"

Wolverine shook his head, darting his eyes in almost all directions. "No. But I have a bad feeling you're about to meet him."

"Him?"

Suddenly, there was a strange sound and they watched as the jet lifted off the ground and began to wobbly move, seemingly on its own. "It's him!" Wolverine said and was the first to act. He ran forward and jumped onto the landing gear, barely able to control himself as the jet wobbled, helter-skelter and flying through the air. Ava cursed herself as the Blackbird sped away, and her jaw was practically dragging across the ground.

"All right. Just because I've never done it before, doesn't mean that I can't now. Besides, if Storm can do it, I can do it better." _Everything except rain, snow, fog, mist, clouds, and wind._

Despite her worries, Ava thought about all the lessons Storm had given her about flying and decided that it was now or never. She concentrated, trying to control winds slowly and steadily and wrapped her entire body with them. She provided the lift and slowly her feet left the ground. She smiled, proud that she still remembered how to levitate, but now was the hard part. She propelled herself forward, and for a moment, all was well. But suddenly she put too much power, tipped and smacked right into the ground, her mouth literally eating dirt.

"Damn," she said, spitting and promising to wash her mouth out with bleach and all the other cleaning chemicals in the house when she got back. That crap was nasty.

She looked up in time to see the Blackbird disappear on the horizon, and she began to get worried. But with Logan on board, how could Xavier get hurt?

"Oh! Hello, Ava!" said a bright cheery voice. She turned to see someone she didn't expect to see much of again. Or at least she had hoped. The girl with bright blond hair was standing on a nearby rock, overlooking the water.

The weather manipulator looked at the empath with complete surprise."Bliss?"

"Yep, it's me," Mandi said, jumping from the rock and landing on the sand. "How've you been?"

"Um, fine, I guess," Ava mumbled, momentarily distracted. "But I don't have time to chat. Some guy just kidnapped Xavier and I've got to help him!"

"Oh, Magneto?" she asked, shrugging. "He's not a bad guy. He's helped me tremendously with my powers, and I know for a fact that he just wants to show the Professor something."

The X-Man field leader stared at the other girl suspiciously. "What do you mean? Does this have something to do with the new mutant?"

"New mutant? Is that why you guys are here?" Ava nodded, but Mandi shrugged and grabbed her arm. Ava momentarily tried to twist it out of her grip, but the empath held out her other hand and opened it suddenly, spraying a fine yellow mist that shot straight into the Storm Siren's nose before she could do anything to stop it. Ava mellowed out immediately, an almost calm and blank expression on her face.

Mandi yanked an almost zombie-like Ava to the other side of the pile of rocks, and smiled. "Magneto wants to show all of us, Tempest. All of mutant kind, and he only wants to meet with us."

A silver orb that reflected the light of the sun was lying on the sand, a section of it open almost like a jaw. Mandi pulled Ava over to it, and Ava began to withdraw from the effects of the induced calm.

"Show us? Meet with him? I don't know about this," she tried, but Mandi guided her in anyway, deciding to wait until later to try to rationalize it. Ava didn't fight because she knew she might be able to find the professor in the end.

Once both mutants were within the metal ball, it snapped shut and suddenly lifted from the beach, rocketing straight into the sky.

* * *

><p>The X-Van sped along the winding cliff-road, with only a small barricade separating them from the sea. They were nearing the destination after about an hour of travel, and Alex was proving his ability to multi-task by driving the vehicle and eating a submarine sandwich.<p>

"Are you sure you should be eating that while you're driving?" asked Rivera wisely.

Grant nodded. "Yes, the odds of you wrecking are much higher. And the chance of a wreck that can cause enough damage to bypass your healing factor by decapit-"

Kris leaned back to Grant in the backseat and said, "We're going to pretend that you were about to say 'decapitalization.' I'd rather keep my lunch."

The malleable mutant smirked, and Rivera just eyed him with a bewildered expression. But suddenly, something caught her eye. She saw the water rise, almost like a title wave. "Guys! Look!"

A huge wave was coming from the sea, not very far from their position. Alex swerved in shock, and Grant threw out both his arms and tried to cover them with a golden dome of his own body to take the impact. Rivera braced herself and Kris covered his ears.

The wall of water slammed into the make-shift shield, and it was enough force to knock the car into the rocky wall ahead. It nearly overturned as it bounced back onto the road, the water leaving them wet and cold.

"Everyone all right?" Alex asked, his sunglasses nowhere to be found.

"What the heck was that?" Kris asked, looking back as the water landed on the road.

Suddenly, a wall of blue flames erupted almost directly in front of them, and Alex slammed the breaks and managed to barely avoid them, knocking into the railing and barely escaping with their lives.

They looked back as another car sped up to them, a large Hummer. "It's the Brotherhood in Archie's jeep!" yelled Rivera.

The Hummer sped up and slammed into the back of the armored van, knocking them still off-course. Jade held out her glowing yellow hands and locked her powers onto the back right tire, instantly slowing it down. The van lurched and tumbled, throwing all of the mutants out of the vehicle and onto the beach below.

Grant grabbed Rivera and Kris instantly and surrounded them with a ball of sorts, but couldn't reach Alex in time. They slammed against the sandy earth, and thankfully, the malleable mutant's ball of thick skin absorbed most of the impact.

"What the heck is their deal?" asked Kris, angry now. Orange sparks glowed around his hands, and the other boy retracted himself quickly so as to not have to touch him.

They looked over to Alex, who was lying on the ground and his arm was twisted at an obviously wrong angle. He was still conscious, somehow, and they all knew his healing factor would kick in, but it still worried them. "I'm okay," he said with a moan.

Lily, Tristan, Jade, Astoria, and Archie stepped out of the Hummer, each with a determined look on their faces. It was obvious to the four X-Men that they meant business.

"Let's party!" Tristan taunted, and the four already hurting mutants braced themselves for battle with the Brotherhood.

* * *

><p>Professor Xavier sat helpless as the jet continued to ascend, all the way into the upper atmosphere. It amazed him that Magneto's abilities had progressed to such a level that he was able to literally lift a jet from that far away.<p>

The sky began to fade and was replaced by the vacant black of space, and the large rock came into view. As he approached, he gasped at the fortress made entirely of metal etched into the side of the asteroid.

"What is this place?"

The jet descended on the asteroid, right down a sort of runway of sorts. Magneto, donned in his red and purple armor and famous telepathy-blocking helmet, held out his arms and brought the jet in closer. "Welcome, Charles, to sanctuary: Asteroid M."

The professor headed straight to the balcony as soon as he was allowed and met his old friend. "What is all of this about, Erik?"

"A rebirth!" the magnetic manipulator said, gesturing to the planet. "X-Men face a trial-by-fire, as do my own recruits." The professor could vaguely see images of Storm fighting Mystique and Wolverine fighting Sabretooth in his mind, and the young mutants being pulled into the waves by tendrils of water controlled by Madidus, but it was weak due to the severe distance away from them. "Mutant pitted against mutant, one shall lose and one shall win. Only those who emerge victorious shall take their place here on Asteroid M. Once gathered here, this place of solitude, they can then fully realize their mutant abilities- safe from those who might mistreat them."

"Erik, don't do this," Xavier pleaded. "We can introduce ourselves to mankind as friends, not enemies."

Magneto turned, looking the bald man in the eye. "You are an idealist, Charles. I am a realist. It is a dark future that rushes toward us, and we must face it prepared." The mutant walked down the path, lightly raising a hand and pulling the metallic wheelchair along behind him.

* * *

><p>Archie smirked, knowing that it was over as the X-Men were slowly drowning. "See! I told you that we'd win! Metal balls, come rescue us now!"<p>

Astoria face-palmed. "Seriously? Metal balls?"

"That's what they are!" the boy cried out, and Lily just smacked him on the shoulder.

"I don't really care what they are, I just want to see my dad again, like he promised," the girl said, rather cheerfully which was unusual for her.

Tristan walked closer to the water, making sure they actually were being dragged deeper into the ocean. As he approached, a great blast of green energy shot out of the water and would have collided with Tristan if she hadn't stopped the energy blast with her powers.

A white flash suddenly appeared out of nowhere and then two clones were binding Astoria's wrists together, before throwing the pyrokinetic to the ground. As Tristan got out of the way of the energy blast and made a move to blast the crap out of the two Rivera clones, a group of tentacle fingers launched from the waves, glinting with gold light in the sun, before wrapping the energy shooter and binding his hands.

Archie scowled and held out his hands, putting pressure on the water to try to hold the mutants down, but another green blast hit the water-controlling mutant, forcing him to revert to water form to survive it.

The X-Men burst from the water, drenched and soaked and obviously not happy. Alex's arm was glowing with green energy as it tried to repair itself, and although they all looked exhausted, they weren't going to let the Brotherhood show them up.

"X-Men, go!" Alex commanded, acting as leader while Ava was gone.

Rivera charged at Astoria, who was just beginning to get away from the clones. The Gothic girl shrugged them off and nearly blasted them with fire, but the tripling mutant absorbed her clones and roundhouse kicked the pyrokinetic. Astoria managed to dodge it at the last second and then fired a steady stream of flames, hitting Rivera and knocking her into the dirt, slight burns covering her face.

Grant blocked several jets of water from Archie's powers, his arms stretched out like thin sheets to absorb their impacts. Right as one collided with him, golden tentacles burst from the shield, and fingers slid through the air, converging on Archie. They surrounded the hydrokinetic and then constricted quickly like a snake. But to the X-Man's dismay, it merely created a splash and Archie reformed from the liquid.

"It'll take more than that, pal," he said, throwing barrages of liquid with every wave of his arm. Grant was pushed backward farther and farther until finally, a torrent crashed into him and knocked his head against the wall, taking the mutant down and making him see stars.

Meanwhile, Kris and Alex were facing down Lily and Jade and Tristan, and it was basically an energy showdown. Kris absorbed a shot from Alex at the start and two shots from Tristan, and was using the energy together to re-fire them at just about everyone on their side. Alex added his bolts, and most were intercepted or evaded by Tristan's bolts. Jade, drawing on her training sessions with Mystique, was slowing down some of them, and speeding up Tristan's, acting as a defense to stop everything before it could reach them and an offensive support.

Lily, stupidly, rushed them. "You are staying behind!" She was in her full beast form, seven feet of pure muscle and fur. Just before she reached Kris, the Asian boy fired a shot into the beast-girl's chest, throwing her off of her feet and into the ocean. She wouldn't move again for a while.

"I've only got one shot left in each hand," Tristan whispered to Jade as Lily went down. "Can you help me make these count?"

Jade smiled. "Yep."

Tristan pointed both hands toward Alex and fired, the attacks mixing into one cohesive beam of red. Jade added yellow energy to it, making it speed up into a much stronger attack. It slammed into Alex, his healing factor unable to keep up as he was thrown from his feet and into the sand several feet away.

Kris stared at his unconscious teammates and frowned, but before he could fire another blast of energy, the stored power fizzled out. "Why are you doing this?"

Jade smiled at him with bright eyes, bits of her obsession coming back. "Because I-we want to see the light." The insane chick gestured upward, just as five silver spheres appeared and dropped onto the beach. "This is your reward."

* * *

><p>Magneto and Xavier walked through the massive hallway, made entirely of metal. "The gathering is almost complete. Just Wolverine and Sabretooth to go. A storm is coming for mutantkind, Charles, and our resolve must be ironclad." He turned suddenly, staring at Xavier. "Side with me, not against me."<p>

"Your invitation begs the question: what happens to those who won't come willingly?"

The metal manipulator turned and gestured to the large tubes along a far wall, something Xavier had not yet noticed. "If necessary, sometimes salvation must be force-fed."

Xavier's eyes widened with shock as he saw who was within the glass tubes: Dean, Kris, and Storm, all "sleeping" soundly. "Erik, you haven't saved them: you've abducted them."

"A certain amount of persuasion might still be needed, I'll admit," Magneto said, as Astoria, Archie, Jade, and Tristan gathered behind him. "But for every unbeliever," he said turning to the end of the hall where a door was opening, "there is a new convert."

Two girls walked into the hall, one with familiar mocha hair with amaranth stripes and one with blond hair that would be very hard to forget. They were dressed in similar dark jeans and white long-sleeved shirts, and Xavier couldn't help but notice the dim look on Ava's normally bright face.

"No! Mandi! And…Ava!" Xavier looked down in dismay.

* * *

><p><strong>How's that for Cauldron (Part One)? Please, review and let me know what you think! Was the Brotherhood fight okay, or did it need fleshing out? I left out the Storm vs. Mystique and Logan vs. Sabretooth fights because I didn't think I needed to tweak anything about them to fit, and it would have been pointless for me to try to describe them word-for-word. <strong>

**I also want to clarify something for you guys: I use their first names in battle during the narration to keep things from confusing you. I only use their codenames when it's in a dialogue. Maybe it provides for awkward repetition, but I wanted to lower the amount of confusion. **

**Anywho, please review! **


	20. Cauldron: Evolution

_Cauldron:  
>Evolution<em>

Lily nearly went into a complete rage when she awoke and had been left behind. She honestly thought about gutting everyone present.

"I just don't understand it," she barked, baring her teeth. "Why can't I see my dad?" She eyed the now recovering X-Men and growled. "It's your fault that I am not up there with my daddy!" She stood up and charged at Alex.

A white flash erupted in her eyes, and two of Rivera's clones were now holding her in place. She struggled, and just as she was about to go into beast mode, Rivera released her and retracted her clones.

"Look, Belle," started Rivera, "We're just as angry that this happened as you are, since Kris is gone now. There's no sense in blindly attacking us."

"We simply want answers. What do you know?" Grant asked, determined and a little scared.

Lily spat at the ground of Alex's feet. "Why should I tell you?"

"Because we can help you get them back," he answered, shrugging as if it was the only thing that made sense in the world. "And we just might be able to help your reunite with old Toothy if you'll let us help you."

Lily scowled, nearly telling them off again, but it was apparent that she needed their help. "Magneto did this. He's challenging each of us to see who's better, and then whoever wins gets to join him on his sanctuary, Asteroid M."

"_Asteroid_?" asked Rivera incredulously. "Who is this guy?"

* * *

><p>The professor stared solemnly ahead, watching as the two girls joined the five Brotherhood members. "Ava, Mandi, I just don't understand."<p>

"But Xavier, Mandi swears we're just here to listen to him," Ava said, a blank expression on her face.

Xavier gestured to the three unconscious X-Men lined up in tubes: Dean, Kris, and Storm. "What about them? Are they here to listen as well?"

It was like a cloud lifted over Ava, and she stared in shock at the three tubes. "Wait! What's going on here?" Her anger was so sudden that the sound of thunder boomed overhead.

Magneto stepped forward. "A simple precaution, Ava. Some people don't have the maturity to accept the need for change that you do."

Ava's eyes flashed amaranth and lightning charged around her. "Let them out! Now! You have no idea the kind of havoc that Smoggy can unleash when she's angry. Trust me, I've felt it!"

Magneto smirked as Tristan took a step in front of him, ready to take whatever hit he needed to. "I will. We just need to proceed cautiously." He walked forward to stand in front of the three tubes, near Xavier. "Trust me, they are perfectly safe."

_Are they safe, Ava?_ the voice of Xavier said in her mind. _I know this man well. His motives cannot be trusted. _At that exact moment, Magneto realized what was happening and waved his hand quickly. Xavier's metallic wheelchair slid into the wall, and the professor gasped when one of the glass tubes closed around him. _Logan! Logan! Lose the battle! _The telepath mentally shouted, just as the gas knocked him unconscious.

Ava's hands flashed with pink energy. "No!"

Magneto stepped forward and raised a hand to stop her. "Do that, and he will not survive the decompression."

"Hmm. I wonder if I can decompress the air in your lungs!" she dared, static electricity thick in the suddenly humid air.

Mandi simply walked forward and placed a hand on Ava's arm. "Relax, Tempest. Magneto is just trying to help the mutants of the world. We should be here to support him." Ava scowled her reply but before she could say something, Mandi doused her with another cloud of yellow dust, which immediately retreated into Ava's nose. The young suddenly mellowed out, as thought the empathic chemical had made her high. "Both you and I need the control that Magneto can provide for us. Wouldn't you want to be able to fly?"

Ava's mouth suddenly turned upward in a dopey grin. "Yeah… Flying…"

Magneto moved between them and placed a hand on both of their shoulders. "I can offer you just that, Ava. The kind of control that can affect the weather on a planetary level. Wouldn't you be interested in that kind of power? Storm would have no choice but to bow to such a goddess."

Ava smiled brighter, and although some part of her was being controlled, the sane part fighting against it liked the idea. It would be foolish to say that she wasn't tempted.

* * *

><p>The entrance to the mansion lay in shambles, and Alex was shocked beyond belief. "What happened here?" The inside foyer was covered with rubble from the huge rut dug from the wall above the door all the way up to a surprisingly circular hole in the ceiling.<p>

"Wow, this place is messed up," Lily murmured as she stepped through the broken front door. "Somebody can't keep a clean house."

"Storm! Storm!" Rivera called out, separating into three to spread out.

Grant stretched high into the air to more closely eye the hole in the ceiling with an open mind. "Could it have been a meteorite, or perhaps a wrecking ball? The trajectory suggests that it came from very high up." He rambled a bit more before finally returning to ground level.

"Geez," Alex said, picking up a broken lamp. "What else could go wrong today?"

"I think you spoke too soon, Dynamo," said a voice. They all turned to see a blue-skinned mutant jumping from the damaged balcony, landing in the center of the room. "Storm's out. Can I take a message?"

Lily smirked. "So you got left behind too?" Mystique glared at her but otherwise ignored the comment.

"What are you here for?" asked Alex, stepping between the other members of the unprepared team and the shape-changing mutant. "I don't exactly think you wanted bring me some milk and cookies." The other X-Men groaned at another of his constant food jokes.

"Simple truth," she answered, pacing the room. "Nobody discards me. Especially not Magneto after all I've done for him." She turned to them. "So I'm paying him a visit. We can go together, or I can go alone."

"Oh, you won't be alone," said a very familiar gruff voice. Everyone turned to see Logan walking into the mansion, his clothes ripped and torn from claw marks. Upon seeing them, Lily growled.

"Oh, he beat you!" she said mockingly, referring to her father. "I can't believe it."

"Don't," Logan said simply, not looking away from Mystique. "Magneto's got out friends, so we're going after 'em."

Mystique closed her mouth tightly and put a hand on her hips. "Good. But I know the man, so I'm calling the shots."

Logan got up into her face, and their difference in height was very obvious now, but his face was still very intimidating in the afternoon light. "Hmm. Well then get your own ride. X-Men, let's go."

As they walked toward the elevator to head to the hangar, Alex clapped Wolverine on the back. "You know, Logan, I've never really realized how short you are."

The feral mutant simply stared at him, and the energy manipulator backed off, hands raised.

Mystique beckoned Lily to follow and headed in the same direction as the X-Men. "All right, fine. But I expect to be consulted!"

Shortly after they all got ready and suited up, they were buckled in and taking off. The tennis court outside the mansion opened up to reveal the sleek black heli-jet.

"Welcome to the first test flight of the X-M Velocity," Logan said, smirking as the vehicle rose like a helicopter and then shot forward like a jet. It ascended quickly, heading right for the destination.

* * *

><p>Ava stared ahead at the balcony, her mind clear of any chemicals from Bliss's influence. She was reminiscing, thinking about all the things that she had been through since becoming a mutant. She remembered that night, three years ago this summer, that had changed her whole life.<p>

_It was a breezy night but the air was still warm and humid in the California heat. She had been so used to it that it hardly bothered her anymore, but after a night of dancing and singing hysterically, she was practically on fire. _

_Her skin felt surprisingly tight and taut, which was odd. Something was throwing her off, but her joints ached and her muscles were sore. She pulled away from the party, knowing that it was something more serious than just exhaustion from the dancing. Ava settled onto the balcony, leaning against the railing and wondering if this was what too much alcohol felt like. She had never drunk before, other than at those stupid wine-tasting parties that her parents had, and this was a new low for her. _

_She was vaguely aware of the door opening and closing, but her head began to hurt. She sat the red plastic cup down and tried to breathe, the beach stretched out in front of her. _

_"Hey, baby," said a voice, and the owner of said voice put a hand on the small of her back. She was too out of it to push him away. "Why are you so glum? I can think of a few things that might cheer you up."_

_"Leave me alone, Jake," she tried, but the boy pressed on. _

_"Oh, but baby, I promise I won't be long," Jake sneered, rubbing a small circle with his palm._

_She angled up and looked at him. "Oh, from what I hear around school, I __**know**__ you won't be long. Why don't you go try some other girl and leave me out of it?"_

_He glared at her. "But baby, you're the one I want. Can't you just give me a chance?"_

_Suddenly, her skin burned and her head felt like it was splitting in two. The boy tried to touch her once more, but she screamed and she felt the floodgates open. A burst of amaranth lightning shot from her body, throwing Jacob across the balcony and leaving him lightly sizzling and unconscious. _

Ava looked at the earth from the balcony, not unlike the one that she had stood on and ran from that night, and she wondered if she could still run away from Magneto. Somehow, maybe if she could find a way off this stupid hunk of rock, she could get away from him. But how far would she get before he pulled whatever means of escape she could get back to him? This guy was insanely powerful.

Mandi walked up to her from behind and startled the Storm Siren with a light hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Not really," she said honestly. "What is your draw to him, Mandi? I don't understand where you went wrong. Weren't you friends with Xavier or something?"

"Magneto?" she asked, and she leaned into him. "He's got my brother, Ava. I've thought about running away so many times, but I'd never get far enough. And yeah, I was friends with Xavier, which is who I was going to run back to."

Ava looked at her incredulously. "Yeah, I'm supposed to believe you, the person who keeps using her powers on me to keep me here."

"I'm keeping you here to protect you, Ava," she hissed. "You don't understand! I have to do this! I'm keeping you from speaking out to him."

"But I can take him!"

Mandi shook her head. "No, Ava, you can't. This entire hunk of rock is actually metal. How are you going to fight someone who can bend the entire environment to his will? He'd just block your attacks." Mandi gave her a pleading look. "Please, just go along with whatever Magneto says. He's got my brother and I can't afford to lose him!"

Suddenly, they heard the sound of the door opening. Magneto stepped out. "It's time, girls. Come with me."

Mandi and Ava shared a look before the two girls followed him.

Magneto led them to the main room, where the Brotherhood, minus Lily, were assembled and standing next to Sabretooth. The four tubes containing X-Men were along a far wall, ominously asleep.

"I built it right into the asteroid," Magneto announced, gesturing to a circular door that almost looked like a metallic bank vault.

"What is it?" Ava asked, direct and to the point.

"A genetic enhancer," the metal-helmeted mutant said. "Perhaps you've heard of the legendary Gems of Cytorakk."

"Gems of cytoplasmic what?" Ava asked incredulously as Magneto pulled out a purple jewel.

"Cytorakk," Magneto corrected. "Well, they do exist. Once believed to possess mystical properties, these stones actually emit a very distinctive radiation."

"Whoa," Mandi said. "You're going to nuke us?"

Magneto's eyes widened like a very obsessed, crazy person. "I'm going to _evolve_ you! To finish your growth!" He turned to Mandi. "Full emotional control, Mandi. And Ava, you'll become a goddess!"

Ava considered it for a moment before gesturing to the four tubes on the wall. "What about them? I want them released!"

Magneto smiled. "They will be, but only after you've gone through the transformation. I want them to see what I'm offering." He waved his hand and the bank vault-like door opened on its own, the machine firing up. "And it _is_ an offer, Ava. I won't force you to go through with it."

Ava didn't believe a word he said. "And we're just supposed to trust that we won't get cancer as soon as we get out of that machine? Why don't you go through it then?"

Magneto smirked, crossing his arms. "I already have. I'm fully advanced." He gestured to Sabretooth. "But why don't I provide you with a real first-hand demonstration?"

Victor Creed growled before turning toward the machine. It began to glow with purple light, the machine emitting a strange whirring noise. Ava and Mandi watched in captivation as the man walked into the machine.

"In a few moments, he'll emerge," Magneto said, turning to the two girls, "reborn."

* * *

><p>The Velocity streaked through the sky at a very fast speed, so fast that it almost everything outside was like a blur. Logan bit the controls and pressed it harder, and the machine gently complied.<p>

"Oh, yeah. This baby cooks!"

Everyone was holding on for dear life, as no one liked that kind of a speed. Alex and Logan were the only ones who didn't look worried, and surprisingly, Lily was worried, despite her own healing factor.

They hit a bit of turbulence and she gasped, gripping the seat tighter. "Crap. This metal vehicle's just going to break apart and we're all going to fall to our deaths."

"I thought all cats landed on their feet?" Alex asked, and Lily glared at him.

"Magneto's not putting us down in this thing," Wolverine said, looking back at Lily. "This crate is built without an ounce of metal."

For some reason, the idea of flying around in plastic did not soothe her worries.

Mystique pointed down at the panel in front of her. "I've got something huge on the scanners. It's Asteroid M, four hundred sixty-three miles and closing."

* * *

><p>Ava watched with interest as the door to the genetic enhancer finally opened, spraying everyone with purple-pink light. To their amazement, Sabretooth walked out and looked completely different. He was more muscular and covered in tan fur, and his claws and face were much more beast like. His underbite reminded everyone of a bulldog.<p>

"I think I can finally see the family resemblance between him and Lily," muttered Archie, and Astoria jabbed her.

"Oh, quit talking bad about her."

"Like you guys ever say anything nice about me when I'm not around!" Archie exclaimed. It only took a moment, but Tristan, Astoria, and Jade all said at exactly the same time, "A valid point." Then they all laughed.

Magneto hushed them and then turned back to Ava and Mandi. "Girls, it's time to reach your full potential."

Mandi turned to the older girl with a pleading look on her face. Ava considered it a moment and then smiled. They walked toward the machine together.

Magneto turned to the tubes holding the four X-Men. "And now for the appreciative audience."

The four X-Men began to stir, Kris and Dean rubbing their eyes. Xavier rubbed his temples, trying to stir, and Storm shook herself awake. She saw what was about to happen and her eyes widened.

"Ava! No!"

The professor connected with Ava's mind just as the girl stepped into it. _Ava, I know what Magneto is doing. This thing will alter your mind. Get out of there, please!_

Ava turned back, alarmed, but before she could get away, the door shut tightly with a flick of Magneto's wrist.

"Too late, Charles," the man said, eyeing him with pride. "She's mine now!"

* * *

><p>With the door closed on them, Ava realized that this whole thing was a trap. She grabbed the front of Bliss's shirt. "You knew about this, didn't you? This thing's gonna alter our minds, make us his slaves!"<p>

But before the blond girl had time to answer, the conveyer belt moved and they were pulled into a long tube with lines of purple along the walls. Energy shot out and electrocuted them, and they cried out in pain.

* * *

><p>Xavier and the other X-Men watched in horror as the door opened and the two girls walked out. Both girls had very serious looks on their faces, each rimmed by the same white hair. Even Ava's amaranth streaks were gone.<p>

"Come," Magneto commanded. "The world awaits you!"

Dean gasped, unable to control her emotion. Storm had a tear in her eye as she looked on Ava's new form, and Kris looked even more afraid of getting turned into an obsessed lover of random people from Bliss's powers. Xavier had a glum, worried look.

"I can feel their emotions," Bliss said, before twisting her hands. A range of emotions like sadness, happiness, terror, and anger flooded through the X-Men, and they were unable to stop the extreme changes. "And control them completely."

"And yet _your_ mind is purged of useless emotion," Magneto said, eyeing the two of them as his greatest creations. "You should have a clear perspective of a our dominance on earth."

Suddenly there was an alarm that began to beep uncontrollably. Sabretooth barked, "Aircraft!"

Magneto turned, throwing out a hand to open up a panel on the ceiling. "Oh really? Let's see who it is." He could see the heli-jet slowly approaching. He threw out his hands, expecting it to move, but it had no effect. He tried two more times before throwing down his hands. "Plastic. They've learned." He shot a look at Xavier, who by this time was smirking.

The magnetic manipulator pointed to the plane. "Girls. Defend us."

The two enhanced mutants walked outside to the runway where the craft was trying to land. Completely unaware of who it was, Mandi began to emit a cloud of purple pheromones, and the cloud grew and grew until it was covering the whole area, including the jet.

"What's purple?" Ava asked.

"Depression."

Ava grinned and then effortlessly controlled the wind currents around her, and before she knew it, she was flying over the cloud. She could imagine the awed expressions within the jet as she flew, but those wouldn't be there for long. She stopped in front of the jet's path and hovered, and then slowly began to charge up her lightning in one hand. Within seconds, the now pure white bolt of electricity surrounded the approaching craft and sliced through their engines.

She swiftly landed and was satisfied as the heli-jet crash-landed into the base.

* * *

><p>(A Few Moments Earlier)<p>

"Approaching the landing bay," Mystique said. "Brace yourselves."

As they neared it, Grant suddenly pointed outward. "Hey, what's that?"

Two figures slowly walked out onto the balcony. Grant stretched his arm forward, pointing the camera and zooming it in. Everyone in the jet gasped to see a white haired pair of girls that they all knew to be Mandi and Ava.

"What happened to them?" Rivera asked incredulously.

But before they could say anything else, Mandi began to wave her hand around and a cloud of purple dust appeared. It slowly expanded and was now fast coming.

"Don't breathe it in!" Logan tried as the air was tainted with pheromones. At first, they thought not breathing was working, but when Alex suddenly burst into tears, everyone else did too, even Logan.

"Why do I feel like cutting my wrist?" Rivera asked suddenly, her voice broken by sobs.

They were all shocked to see Ava suddenly flying toward them, but it was muddled by their strange emotions. "I didn't know she could fly," muttered Lily.

"Neither did we," Logan said with a sniff of his nose.

They all watched with a strange un-reactivity as the girl charged a bolt of white lightning and then fired it at them, taking out one half of the engines. It was almost like they were okay with almost dying. Velocity crashed into the balcony, sliding half-way down the hall before finally coming to a stop. For a big hunk of plastic, it did a lot of damage.

Thankfully, they were pulled out of Bliss's spell. Grant looked around at their confused expressions. "The adrenaline rush must have cancelled out her powers somehow."

Logan growled. "It doesn't matter what happened. Let's move!"

They popped out of the vehicle and ran down the hall, finally running into the main room. Magneto was standing there in his armor surrounded by Brotherhood members. Xavier and the remaining X-Men were along one wall, trapped in reinforced glass tubes.

"Knock-knock," Mystique taunted, staring down the metal manipulator.

Magneto suddenly levitated. "It's a pity, Mystique. You never could take no for an answer."

The shape shifter rushed forward, aiming a high placed kick on Magneto's chest. The bucket-head dodged both kicks.

Logan rushed over, adamantium claws out. He sliced through a support line for the four tubes, making the glass tubes disappear. He angled toward Xavier. "Where's the X-Jet?"

"Observation deck!" Xavier said, pointing. "That way!"

"Gather the-" Logan was interrupted when Sabretooth tackled him, throwing him into the wall almost effortlessly, knocking him out cold for the moment. Sabretooth was about to claw him but Lily, in beast mode, caught his fist.

She looked at Sabretooth with a bewildered expression. "Daddy, what the heck did you do to yourself?" But instead of answering, the man growled.

"You're defending _him?"_ he asked, bewildered and way more than angry. He tackled his daughter, sending the two of them crashing into the base of the tubes, trapping them.

Xavier looked to both Dean and Kris, "Prep the Blackbird! Go, now!" The two kids rushed toward the nearest adjacent hall. "Storm, you've got to help me reach Ava and Mandi." The white-haired woman nodded, following him.

* * *

><p>Rivera dodged an energy blast from Tristan just in time, that same energy blast opening the chamber of the enhancer, before flashing out her clones to try to trap him. He tried to defend himself, using moves from some kind of martial art that she was surprised he even knew. He was matching them blow for blow, partly because she was using her mimicking powers against him.<p>

"You know martial arts?" she asked incredulously. Tristan tried to perform a backflip, but using what karate knowledge she knew, she and her two clones quickly overwhelmed him. He tried another energy blast, but she made her clones disappear at the last second and then jabbed him in the head, knocking him against the wall. "Sorry, but it will take more than that."

Grant was quickly cornered by the hydrokinetic and the pyrokinetic, and the odds were against him. Astoria was blasting fire at him left and right, and although his skin was flame-resistant, it was starting to get too hot. Blue flames danced on the walls, they were determined to keep him on the defensive.

He held out his arms as shields, trying to keep the flames in one area, but Astoria was learning. The flames were getting hotter and hotter, and soon enough, he was afraid he would just melt into oblivion. He, thinking rapidly, extended his fingers but kept his stretched palms out like thin shields, and then flicked his fingers forward like whips. With one hand, he grabbed Astoria and began to wrap himself around her, cancelling out the fires for a short time. The girl frowned and tried to struggle, and even Archie tried to help her, but she was unable to move.

"No fair!" she yelled.

Grant peeked from behind his thin barrier. "All's fair in love and war." He flicked his fingers, unraveling her quickly enough that she spun and was momentarily stunned. He took the chance and stretched out a large fist, pummeling her into the wall near Tristan.

Archie scowled at him, and then held his arm up. Grant couldn't tell why he was doing it, for all he could see were metal pipes. After a moment, he cried, "Take…this!"

The pipe in one concentrated area burst, Mystique's training paying off. Water rushed around the Brotherhood member and he snickered at Grant.

"Hmm, so the rotation was enough to break through the metal, huh?" asked the X-Man. But he received no answer as water rushed toward him, looking like a floating current of a river rapid. Grant twisted this way and that, blocking some of the strikes with an arm shield, but soon enough, the thug had enough water in the corner that it suddenly formed into a sort of block which the malleable mutant was trapped inside.

"I'm not losing to a nerd like you," he said, holding the water tight against him like a pressurized container. Every time the gold-skinned boy tried to stretch out of it, the water seemed to push him back within the small prison.

"No, you aren't," a voice said. Suddenly, a green blast of energy exploded against the body of Archie, and water splashed against the walls as his body split apart. The water holding Grant splashing to the ground, leaving him panting and catching up on his breathing. "You okay?"

Grant nodded slowly.

* * *

><p>Mystique was very quickly on the defensive, having to hide behind walls and only manage to get in a few hits, since Mangeto was sending metal objects at her from nearly all directions. She managed to dodge one of the poles, sending it scattering to the ground, before launching herself at him. Magneto smirked as she took the bait, before sending a broken computer monitor flying right into her abdomen.<p>

Mystique kept going and flew right into the chamber of the enhancer, and purple and pink light filtered. "No! My enhancer!" he cried as he flew in to try to stop it.

* * *

><p>Logan stirred, groggily watching the fights in progress as he tried to regain his bearings. Lily rolled, using her slightly smaller but even more beast-like form adequately enough to pin her father to the ground. "Why are you doing this to me?"<p>

Sabretooth growled, shoving her off and into a nearby wall. She was only distracted for a moment, but that's all it took for the beast to grab her and hold her against the wall, claws raised. "Because you are an insolent little girl with no respect!"

_SNIKT!_

Lily looked down to see that six adamantium claws had sprouted from her father's now-bleeding chest. The man groaned in pain and dropped her, and she clattered to the ground, holding her neck where his claws had scraped through the skin. She knew it would be healed soon, and so would her father's own wounds, but she couldn't help but try to stop the bleeding. Victor fell, landing on the ground at Logan's feet as he retracted his claws.

"Truce?" the Canadian mutant tried. Lily merely smirked.

Jade watched as Alex approached, and was ready to recall Mystique's training. Alex fired a blast, which she slowed down, dodged, and then sped back up, and the beam crashed into the wall, leaving an impressive scorch mark. He fired another, waited a moment, and then fired a third. She slowed the first one down and then dodged it, and then quickly switched to the other. It was working at first, but very quickly his energy blasts were getting closer every time he shot one, and she tried to repeat the same steps, thinking that if she wore him down, she might could escape.

Alex suddenly stopped firing, which confused her. "New game!" She was suddenly tapped on the shoulder, leaving her completely off-guard.

"Sleep," Dean cried out, a little angry about what Magneto had done. Jade tried to fight her influence, but it was too much. Jade fell to the ground, asleep. Dean looked proudly at the unconscious Brotherhood member. "You know, it surprises me how many are susceptible to this."

Alex could only shrug.

The entire asteroid suddenly began to shake, scaring them all. Grant, still recuperating, figured that something must have happened to Magneto when he went into that chamber, because now, the place was instable.

"Whoa!" Rivera asked, running over to Grant to help him up. "What's going on? And where's Storm and Xavier?"

That was when they had noticed that they were missing, and the two genetically modified super-mutants were gone too.

"Let's get the others and head to the jet! Kris should have it ready by now," Alex yelled from across the way, heading toward the hallway with Dean.

"What about Magneto and Mystique? And we can't just leave the Brotherhood," Rivera said when she and Grant reached them, and Alex thought for a moment.

He ran back and called out, in his best Austrian accent, "Come with me if you want to live!"

Archie, while rubbing his wet clothes, looked at him like he was crazy. "Heck no. Why would we go anywhere with you?"

As soon as he said it, another tremor shook the room and knocked Archie onto his butt. Alex raised his eyebrow.

Logan clapped the water-boy on the back. "I think that we're the only ride off this junk heap, so unless you want to be space trash, I suggest you get a move-on."

"All right, we're coming," Tristan agreed, taking a very weak-breathing Lily around the neck to try to carry her.

Logan was about to join the X-Men when he heard a growl from behind him. "Go, kids! Now!" He ran back into the room as Sabretooth stirred, his healing factor proving to be enough to heal the wounds.

Rivera looked like she wanted to argue, but Alex pushed them all on, the Brotherhood close behind. "Which way do we go?" the tripling girl asked when they hit a fork in the road.

Grant thought about the placement on the asteroid and the layout his brain had made when they came in, just in case. He pointed to their right, and having no better ideas, the two groups headed in that direction.

After several minutes of slow travel due to the group dragging Lily, they finally reached the observation deck. The jet was perched on the ground, but the engines were clearly running. They paid no attention to details around them as they hurried inside, getting everything ready for them to leave.

The Brotherhood were bickering loudly about who won which fights and how much better their powers were over the X-Men, but after Kris pointed out what was going on from the pilot's seat, the X-Men stopped listening. It took Tristan a full minute to realize that everyone had stopped talking, and when he finally looked up, his eyes widened with shock.

* * *

><p>(Several Minutes Before)<p>

Storm and Xavier hurried as fast as they could to crash site of the Velocity, where they hoped that the two girls would still be. Xavier was giving words of wisdom to his oldest student but was cut off when they finally reached the enhanced girls.

"Hello, Xavier," said Mandi almost angrily.

"Hello, Storm," said Ava. "I suppose you're here to fight us. That's what we mutants do, isn't it? Fight? Mutants don't have to fight amongst each other."

"We should be fighting the humans. Proving our dominance and saving the future of mutant kind," Mandi finished, and both the X-Men knew it sounded very rehearsed, like Magneto had programmed them to say it.

"No," Xavier said adamantly. "We're not here to fight. Physical force is never the answer, and we can introduce ourselves in peace to the non-mutant public."

"Ava, come back to us, dear," Ororo tried.

"You can fight his influence," Xavier added.

Both girls stared blankly for a moment and then laughed. "You're a naïve old man, Professor. And neither of us need you anymore," Ava explained, and white energy began to whip around her. Wind grew in the hallway, twisting and turning like cyclones.

"We do not wish to fight!" Charles tried once more, but it was obvious that she would never be reached.

Bliss, with one hand, summoned her pink chain made with her powers, capable of controlling even the simplest of emotions and the most complex of desires. And with the other hand, she generated a cloud of green mist and spread it over the area, and it gathered with the wind.

"No!" Storm yelled, her eyes glowing with blue light. Countering winds grew and kept the green chemical from reaching the two of them.

"Fine," Xavier said, deciding to hell with it. "If we fight, you are on our terms. It's a one-on-one match of Bliss against me and Storm against you."

After another couple of moments, Ava slowly nodded. "Fine. We have nothing to fear for we are evolved. Our powers in complete potential and control. You cannot hope to defeat us."

The group decided that they should take the fight outside. Storm, meanwhile, contacted Xavier mentally, _You do have a plan, right? How are you going to beat Bliss?_

_Her powers are merely a derived form of telepathy. I'm going to call the battle in the Astral Plane, _he explained. _I assume that you are able to take Ava._

_I'm not so sure now._

* * *

><p>Storm, thanks to Xavier's assurance, took to the skies above the asteroid. To her surprise, Tempest did the same, although the wind was whipping loudly around her form, lke her usual stormy self.<p>

"Ah. So your new upgrade has made you able to fly?" asked Storm, a little impressed.

"No time for small-talk," the girl said, blasting an arctic-style wind at the Weather Witch.

Storm felt the chill before she countered it with an oppositely warm air, and then summoned a cloud of rain. A heavy torrent ran through the area, drenching the area with water but avoiding Storm's body herself. She thunder-clapped in an attempt at intimidation before summoning vortexes of wind and water, and then aiming them at the girl.

Ava waited until they were very close before she pointed her fingers and white lightning rushed through the area and broke apart all of the wind. Storm parried the blow with her own blue lightning, but it was only in the nick of time.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Xavier and Bliss stared each other down. "I know you, Bliss. This is not you, and you know it."<p>

"I don't know myself anymore. Magneto spared me of the emotions of my past life, and I no longer have any reverence for specific memories," Mandi said robotically and with no passion. She waved her chain through the air, but a sudden telepathic blast of pain shot through her skull, and she dropped the weapon to the ground.

Xavier felt himself leave his body as he attempted to draw her mental self out of her body as well. After several moments, Xavier managed to yank on her mind and separate it from her body, and join him in the Astral Plane, where he had no laws of reality.

"You think you can stop me here?" asked Bliss, unimpressed. Her chain appeared in her hands and several multi-colored clouds of chemicals erupted from her body, floating around her. "You have no idea how strong I have become."

He was suddenly blasted by a tinge of anger mixed with fear, but he had not seen any of the clouds moving yet; he tucked the emotions away within the recesses of his mind. He frowned as he summoned a sword and shield made of astral energy and rushed her, glad to feel like he could use his legs again, even if he wasn't really.

There was a clash as her chain met his sword, and then she wrapped the pink energy around his astral blue blade and then shoved down, meeting Xavier's head with her knee.

He was flung backwards, but before she could return to her body, he flicked his wrists and thick tendrils of astral energy wrapped around her body. She tried to move but couldn't even with the help of her chain, but she channeled her clouds of dust into the energy instead. How the multi-colored particles weakened it, he would never know, but soon enough, she was free.

He dashed forward, sword raised, but as he swiped down, she caught him with her chain again. But to her surprise, he let go of the sword and rammed her with his shield, before blocking another cloud of emotion dust from reaching his astral self. She went crashing into the ground, skidding away from her body.

"You won't be able to defeat me completely, Xavier," she exclaimed. "In fact, I doubt you'll be able to even weaken me anymore."

Spears of emotion dust suddenly appeared, each colored differently. His eyes widened as they flew toward him like a volley of arrows, and he had to concentrate his whole being on a shield strong enough to withstand it. One hit, then two, then three, all in the same spot. After another, he started to feel it crack, and once the fifth hit, it shattered into pieces like broken pane of glass. He was hit three times, feeling his concentration breaking as he was attacked with jealousy, rage, and confusion. When he was finally hit with regret, his mind suddenly flew back to his body.

* * *

><p>Watching the two weather witches do battle was like seeing two giants try to topple each other. Or at least, that's how Alex saw it. They were gathered in the cockpit of the jet, hoping they were in a safe distance from the massive bolts and wind gusts that were making them truly terrified.<p>

Kris looked toward everyone else. "You know all those times I made Ava mad on purpose?"

The tripling mutant stared at him, only taking her eyes off of Ava's terrible powers for one instance. "Yeah, I think we do."

"Well, remind me not to do it again," he answered, shuddering.

"Actually, Sparkplug, your powers might have you covered there. Almost all of Ava's attacks are energy-based," explained Grant.

Kris didn't tear away from the battle for a second. "I'd rather not take my chances."

"Shouldn't we help somehow?" Dean asked with a small voice, only making a slight discomfort in the back of everyone's throats. But no one dared say anything at the moment about it. "I don't like sitting on the sidelines." Storm was suddenly blasted backward in the air by a gale-force wind, and she had to generate a counter-wind just to keep herself steady.

Archie looked up incredulously. "What can we do? Storm is easily the X-Man with the most power, and she's barely holding her own. Ava's going to win, and then she's going to fry us all. Or the asteroid will collapse, and we'll all still die."

They didn't have much to say to that, but Alex stared ahead at the form of Ava. "We'll be all right. I know we will."

Suddenly, Logan burst into the jet. "We've gotta get ready to get out of here."

When Logan saw the battle going on up above, he stopped, awe-struck.

* * *

><p>Storm studied Ava's next move, watching the enhanced mutant's strategies and looking for patterns. Ororo had tried to teach the girl everything she knew, but some things were just always hard for Ava, even after two years at the Institute.<p>

But she was on a whole different level here. And she didn't seem to be getting any weaker as time passed. Storm fired as much lightning as she could, but Ava would simply deflect it with a wide blast of her own and Storm would then have to dodge that one.

"You do realize that you can't win, right?" Tempest asked, suddenly enveloping the sky in mist. It was thick enough to block out all sight, but Storm could defog an area very quickly. She generated a small gust of wind around her, and slowly expanding it, pushing the fog away. But when the fog had lifted, the girl was gone.

Storm twisted in every direction she could, but the girl was nowhere to be found. She eyed Xavier on the deck below, sitting in his wheelchair across from Bliss, and both were in deep concentration.

"Boo!" Ava said from above, and Storm cursed herself for not seeing that coming. Ororo dodged a lightning bolt at the last second, before she realized at the last moment that Ava hadn't been aiming for her.

* * *

><p>Xavier sent another telepathic blast at Bliss, refusing to let the girl get the upper hand. The empath tried to resist his advances, and for a time, she was, but finally, his powers forced her out of her body once more. He met her on the astral plane and met her face to face again.<p>

Xavier said, smiling, "Did you know that I once defeated a man in Africa who could only exist in the astral plane and had to invade bodies in the real world just to exist?"

"How could I possibly forget that?" Bliss asked sarcastically.

"Well, you'll be glad you didn't," he said, pointing in his astral form. "Because he's right behind you."

She turned, seeing nothing, but Xavier used the brief distraction to stab her mind with his sword, and then he shot memory after memory of her as a child growing up. He forced memories of him reading to her instead of her parents, him swinging her on a swing set, him buying her clothes at the mall, et cetera, et cetera.

They seemed to be having an effect, as she slowly stopped resisting and a smile started to spread across her face.

He didn't notice the bolt of lightning descending toward his physical body.

* * *

><p>"No!" Storm yelled, eyes flashing. She forced out a blue rod of electricity, and it almost seemed like everything moved in slow-motion. The blue bolt and the white bolt were racing toward a destination, and when the blue bolt slipped past at the last second and redirected the electricity, she sighed in relief that Xavier hadn't been zapped. Storm flew up to meet Ava on an equal level, eyes flashing and power rolling off of her in swirling wind, rain, mist, and snow.<p>

"What are you going to do?" Ava taunted, her hands glowing with white cackling energy.

"I will fight you if I must, but Avalon, you have to remember who you are. You just attacked Professor Xavier! Do you even realize that? He's like a father to you! He's everything that you wished that your real father was! Avalon, please!"

It seemed to clear some of the fog in her mind. She put her hands to her head, rubbing it until it hurt. Ororo watched with curious eyes as the girl's hair slowly transformed to the regular mocha color with amaranth stripes, and it took a second, but her eyes slowly returned to their grey color.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash and they saw the asteroid begin to break apart. Storm stared down at Xavier and Bliss, and the jet that was still sitting on the deck. She looked toward Ava and offered her a hand.

After another tremor shook the base, Ava finally took it, a hardened light out of her eyes. The two flew toward the ground together.

By the time they landed, Xavier pulled back into his body, and Bliss as well on the other side.

"Are you all right, Bliss?" he asked.

The girl nodded briefly. Xavier watched her hair slowly turn from white to blond, and her whole body seemed to return to the way it was before.

"All right then, let's get to the Blackbird so we can get home."

They arrived at almost the last possible moment, and everyone climbed into the jet. Everyone except Bliss. Mandi stared at the Professor with sorry eyes and then hurried into the complex, probably to find some trace of Magneto or Mystique.

"We've gotta go, Charles," Logan called back. The jet finally lifted from the asteroid at Xavier's call.

* * *

><p>No one wanted to talk, so they didn't. Everyone was weary of Ava now, and they had just watched Mandi possibly stay behind to die. Ava was sobbing as she laid with her head in Storm's lap, and no one needed to tell the seventeen year old that it was okay as Ororo rubbed her hair and stroked her face.<p>

"Will she be all right?" Rivera finally said after a long moment.

Almost as soon as she said it, the asteroid exploded with a large fire-show, and the petite girl clawed at Grant's shirt and buried her head on his shoulder. Everyone stared out the window as pieces fell away from the blast, and a huge chunk fell right down toward the earth, probably into the Pacific Ocean. They continued watching, not knowing what they expected to see, when three of those metal pods suddenly shot toward the earth.

"Damn," Logan said, silently hoping that Sabretooth hadn't gotten away.

"Mystique is still alive," Tristan said bluntly.

"What about Bliss?" asked Kris, who shot a look at Jade. He couldn't believe it when he saw it, but the girl blushed when he looked at her. "Is she okay?"

Xavier placed his hands on his temples and after a brief moment, he smiled. "Her mind is faint, but yes, I do believe so."

Everyone in the jet, even the supposedly uncaring Brotherhood, sighed in relief. Rivera looked up from Grant's shirt and suddenly tore away, trying hard not to blush. Grant merely smiled.

"I'm sorry," Ava said suddenly, wiping her tears as she sat up from Storm's lap. "Especially to you, Storm. I know it seems like I did those things for myself, and chose to become that…_monstrosity_, but I was doing it because of Mandi. Xavier, did you get any information from her about her brother being in Magneto's hold?"

The professor nodded, but he had a hard, almost distrusting look on his face. "Yes. I do not applaud your decision though, as you could have put every one of us in graver danger than we were. You should have informed me with your thoughts or signaled us somehow. We're a team for a reason."

Logan piped in, "For the next three months, I'm going to be your best friend."

Ava took a deep breath and sighed. "I suppose that's fair. Let me guess, triple sessions?"

Logan grinned. "I was going to say 'double,' but I suppose triple works too."

Tristan smiled at her. "Magenta, I think you walked right into that one."

Everyone laughed, even Ava.

As they headed home, everyone couldn't help but wonder why the moment had such finality to it. Something they couldn't explain, but all of them wondered:

What could the future have in store?

* * *

><p>The girl stared ahead at the carnival, wondering why she was here. She had nearly drowned today and had been saved by something she wouldn't have thought possible. Now she was in a strange empty carnival tent, and she could not explain why.<p>

Why would she follow such a strange robed man? He seemed to be quite odd, and a little more than strange. She could feel a voice in the back of her head, a familiar voice that she had once dreamed up and brought to life, warning her that this could be bad news. Something about it was off. Something very wrong.

Suddenly, the tent flap opened, and the man with the strange hooded cloak of black and purple. Three teens of various sizes were following him, each dressed in the same color scheme as the man. Were they all some kind of carnival freak show act? She knew that she had some … freaky traits.

_Do not call me freaky!_

_Sorry, _she thought bitterly, trying to calm the voice down. He was always so wild when he was trapped in her head.

The man sat at the short round table across from me, never letting me look for a long time at his face. The three teens stayed at the tent flap, almost as if they were standing guard.

"Creator," he said in a dark-sounding voice, "give me your hand."

"Let me see your face first," she said automatically, and she could feel the voice in her head egging her on. One of the teens, a girl she supposed by the body shape, gave a satisfied smirk.

It was a long moment before the man reached up and pulled away his cloak.

She screamed.

* * *

><p><strong>I know. Cliffhangers suck. I hate them too, but they are a good plot-device to keep the suspense moving. <strong>

**I'm just glad this chapter is finally done, and it's done 10 days before I actually planned (I wanted everything done for season one by the 15****th****, the day school starts back. It's my senior year too!)**

**ANYWHO… I gotta know… How was Cauldron as a whole? The hardest part to write was the empathic-telepathic fight and the weather fight, and it took forever to figure out how I wanted it. I could have probably extended them if I had wanted to, but 8200 words and 21 pages (with Times New Roman, 12pt) is enough.**

**And as an additional surprise, the stories X-Men Evolution: Savage Legacy (An almost direct continuation of this story, as a side arc between Season 1 and Season 2, which details the recruitment of the New Mutants and a new enemy) and my totally-unrelated-to-Redux-but-I-really-want-you-guys-to-check-it-out story called Remnants of Grey. I would describe it, but I think it's better to just read it. Anywho, I hope you enjoyed season one and I can't wait to post season two…**

…**which will be directly after Savage Legacy…**

…**so read it!**


	21. Growing Pains: Nothing But the Truth

**And here's Season Two! If you haven't read Savage Legacy yet, you should check it out! It's the reason that this chapter took so long to get out!**

**Dislcaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution or any characters created by Marvel. **

* * *

><p><strong><em>Growing Pains:<em>**  
><strong><em>Nothing But the Truth<em>**

Rivera stared ahead, hearing the crowd cheering her name. She pushed a stray strand of black hair into her cap, her body cold in the swimsuit. She looked on her left and right, and the two exact copies of her repeated the same gestures she did. Chayce and Maya were their "official" names, but she knew they were just the results of her powers.

She looked over to see her friends cheering her on in the stand, and she blushed when Grant gave her a thumbs up. Kris was watching her intently, ready to cheer the moment that Rivera and her "sisters" got ahead. Ava yelled her name as loud as she could, and Alex was cheering with a mouthful of burger. Dean was silently reading her book, but was thoroughly invested in her performance as well; the voice manipulator claimed that that reading was an easy way to distract herself so she didn't scream and kill them all.

The sad part is that she was serious.

"All right, Rivera, don't screw this up," she muttered under her breath. The two clones nodded, as though confirming her command.

See, that's the crazy part about her powers: technically, Chayce was conscience and Maya was her inner desires. So her clones were technically herself, and she was them.

It blew her mind, but she didn't dwell on it much.

She kept a silent concentration on her powers to keep them in check, so that her clones didn't disappear in the middle of the swim. That would be hard to explain to the school, and to the world.

Rivera thought over the videos of swimming she had been watching over the last couple of weeks, the exercises fresh in her mind. Her powers to mimic any motion were pretty useful, but Xavier's words about abusing power were always fresh in her mind. She was a good swimmer before her powers were even there, and even better at karate. Now, she knew she was extremely good at both, since she could mimic even the professionals. And her clones would follow suit.

She didn't have time to think about it as the whistle blew. She took her position and when the whistle blew again, the three Riveras dove into the water headfirst.

The mimicking girl fell into a perfect breast-stroke. So perfect that she had to concentrate slightly on controlling her powers. It was not an easy task, but soon enough, the mutant had pulled ahead of the other swimmers from other high schools in the district, her two replicas in tow.

"And the three Smith triplets take an early lead," the announcer said over the intercom. She could only barely hear every other word, but she could get the gist of it over the screaming fans and the rush of the water through her ears.

After a brief moment, she realized that she was being _too_ good. She slowed down a fraction of a second, allowing Taryn, another girl on her team, to push forward. She, Maya, and Chayce carved through the water, and the main Rivera had to concentrate hard not to mimic the images of perfect breast-strokes. When she finally touched the other side, the crowd went wild for Taryn and her.

"And Taryn Fujioka and the Smith sisters come in first, second, third, and fourth!" the announcer yelled, making the crowd scream even louder. "And the Bayville High Wildcats advance to the state semi-finals! What a way to start the school year!"

Rivera beamed as she saw her friends chanting her name. Dean looked up from her book and was so surprised that even she shouted her name.

Suddenly, everyone around her froze and grabbed their heads. Rivera was hit with a sudden migraine and a feeling of severe nausea. It took the Inuit girl a long moment to finally realize what she was doing. Thankfully, she managed to calm down and bury her head in her hands.

Ava rubbed the girl's shoulder comfortingly, whispering words of encouragement.

And Rivera thought her powers were troubling.

The moment was ruined when she saw the news reporters approaching. She took a glance at her two clones, knowing they'd be unable to talk, and freaked out.

_You need to get out now_, Chayce said in her head.

_No, take the glory. You know you want it, Rivera. All you have to do is reach for it, _Maya argued.

She sighed and wished that her clones didn't have personalities. The girl yanked herself out of the pool before anyone could say anything, and the two replicas followed. She sped to the locker room before any of her teammates even had a chance, yelling that she was sick as she passed by any speculators.

As soon as she was aware that she was alone, a white flash was absorbed into her body as her clones disappeared into her head once more. She frowned, wishing that they weren't so hard to manage.

* * *

><p>"You did so well!" Ava gushed from the steering wheel of her convertible, adjusting the mirror to make sure she could see her way out of this traffic jam. For whatever reason,<p>

"Yeah, you were really great," Kris said from the sidelines. "And I bet you didn't have to use your powers."

Rivera shook her head sheepishly. "Well, I tried not to. There was one point when I did, and I sort of slowed down after that. I was just glad Chayce and Maya didn't disappear in the middle of the race."

"Hey, that speaks of control then, right?" Ava asked, moving up slightly in the traffic.

"Yeah, I guess so," Rivera mumbled, glancing at Dean. The Inuit girl shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny. "Are you okay, Dean? I guess you are down about what happened."

"No," she said in that monotone voice. "I'm not. But I will get over it."

Kris looked at her and smiled. "If it makes you feel any better, you aren't maiming us with your voice now. That's got to be some improvement, don't you think?"

Dean didn't respond. Ava felt sorry for her. They might all have difficulties, but she had it worse.

Ava was adjusting the mirror again when she nearly jumped out of her seat in shock. A green and black clad boy riding a motorcycle zipped by, waving at the group in the silver convertible. The helmet obscured his face, but they all knew it was Alex.

"Dang," she muttered.

"Yes, he was riding rather close, despite his healing factor. There's no doubt in my mind that he might have had a physical altercation with the vehicle if he had not slowed at the last moment. He most like-"

"Grant, it's all right. We don't need the scientific details," Kris muttered at the boy squeezed tightly in the back seat between Kris and the car door. But the malleable boy probably didn't even feel it.

"Sorry," he muttered. "All the talk with Keiko about her research has me on nerd-mode."

Ava smirked, wondering what it would be like to be that smart. But she glanced back into her mirror in just enough time to see the speeding car. She yanked on the wheel to the right with a gasp, making everyone cry out. But they safely merged to the right as the car blasted by. Dean's healing words had to stop their headaches after her uproar, making her feel worse than she already was for using her powers again.

"What in the world was his problem?" Rivera asked, glancing back.

"Well, the seven police cars might be a clue," Kris muttered, looking around once more. They all looked up just in time to see Alex swerve out of the way ahead, as the car chase rushed past.

"All this traffic and he managed not to crash. That's gotta be some miraculous luck," Ava stammered, watching as the chase sped up and over the freeway overpass.

But as the chase continued, something went horribly wrong. As a school bus of children rolled underneath, the runaway vehicle suddenly crashed into the side of the overpass, dangling off the side over the school bus.

"Oh, no!" Rivera exclaimed.

"We've got to do something!" Kris yelled.

"Too many cameras!" Ava exclaimed with a sigh, wishing the circumstances were better.

The driver managed to push himself out the window, holding onto the ledge. But his weight unbalanced the car and it went tumbling off the side.

Ava was already two steps ahead, her eyes glowing with amaranth light. A bolt of colored lightning shot from the cloudless sky and slammed into the falling car, diverting its path. It crashed against the freeway pillar instead of the bus, and the kids ran out of the doors.

The driver, now dangling over the burning vehicle, suddenly lost grip but a green and black leathered arm grabbed him at the last second, hoisting him up and over the ledge, right into the way of the police. Ava watched the leather-clad, helmeted figure that she knew as Alex speed off on his motorcycle before the police could comment.

As the driver was arrested, the young X-Men watched the skies overhead, hoping that the helicopter hadn't recorded them.

* * *

><p>Logan watched from the window of Xavier's office, seeing the New Mutants, as they had been dubbed in his absence, running around and causing mischief on the lawn.<p>

A petite auburn haired girl dashed across the lawn and suddenly morphed into a huge white tiger, jumping and leaping around like a prowling cat.

Another girl was sitting at the base of the tree, her skin slightly green. She looked like she had been napping when the tiger girl playfully leapt toward her. Without even batting an eye, the tree suddenly shifted and the white feline mutant slammed into an arch of barky tree limb, and the plant manipulator didn't even open her eyes.

One African American boy tossed a ball twice into the air before smiling, and then spinning in the ground. Spinning very fast. The baseball launched from the miniature vortex, heading up before angling down right toward the tall black-haired boy with no mitt. The other seemed to see it as a challenge and ran after it. Purple energy flashed into existence, and the boy caught the ball with a very large mitt made of violet light attached to his hand.

With a light grin, the energy construct generator pointed towards another boy who was just sitting there, on the ground, not paying any of them any attention. Logan recognized the position, and it seemed that he was meditating. The Japanese boy wasn't wearing a shirt or shoes, and he looked to be trying to get some peace in the chaotic yard.

The vortex generator shook his head, as though begging the other boy not to do it, but no one listened. The ball was suddenly thrown from the boy's hand at full speed.

Just before the ball hit, the boy's skin turned solid black, his hair turned white and spiky, and his fingers turned into sharp claws. The ball collided with the boy's back with a muffled sound, but the boy didn't pay them much attention. He reached back, grabbed the ball, and crushed it in his hands. Then he stood, stretching, before suddenly running after the boys, and the three of them chased each other around the yard.

"So those are the New Mutants, huh?" asked Logan, turning away from the window. "Looks like we got our hands full."

"Yes, a spirited bunch, but good kids," Xavier said behind them, watching the one called Tigress leap at the earth energy absorber and tackle him to the ground. "I'm afraid it's going to be even more difficult to keep a lid on things this term. And to maintain our anonymity."

Just then, Spartan's hands glowed with energy and a purple blade cut straight through a brick wall, while he was trying to chase after Masato.

"Not to mention our buildings," Logan said, turning away. "We'll need more instructors. Maybe a couple of tanks."

"I believe that's where I come in," said a voice. A short Japanese woman appeared at the door, walking in dressed in a lab coat. "Sorry to eavesdrop, but I was walking by and I couldn't help but overhear. It's nice to finally meet you, Logan."

"So you're the paper woman that Xavier was telling me about," Logan said, as though sizing her up.

"Yes," she said, grinning. "And you're the animal I've heard so much about."

Logan nodded. "Pretty much."

"Logan, this is Keiko Takahashi. She's going to be here as an instructor from now on, as I'm sure you already know," explained Xavier. "She's a very prominent geneticist, and she can handle herself on the field as well."

"So I've heard," the Canadian mumbled. "How does that paper of yours work anyways? Paper doesn't exactly scream threatening."

She flicked her wrist and a paper shuriken suddenly sprouted from the space right next to his ear, on the wall. Logan seemed impressed. "Trust me, it can be quite effective."

"I like this one."

A knock at the door interrupted their conversation. "Excuse me, but I think you might find this interesting," said Storm, walking into the room. She pressed a button on the remote on Xavier's desk, turning the picture frame into a television.

"Eyewitness accounts are conflicting," said the Channel Three newscaster, as the image shifted to one of freeway and a car about to fall off and onto a school bus, "but all agree that the falling car was deflected by what appears to be a bolt of pink lightning. Could this be divine intervention? Or some other mysterious source?"

"Ava," the professor muttered.

* * *

><p>"Maybe we can just pretend that it never happened?" suggested Ava with a worried glance. But as she looked up to the front door after closing her car door, she grimaced. The four teachers were standing outside, each with the look of a disappointed parent.<p>

It amazed her that everyone over the age of forty could make that look.

"Too late," Rivera said with a grimace.

Ava groaned and followed the Xavier into the office. The other three teachers, probably just to celebrate Logan's homecoming, had to start a Danger Room session. Ava did not miss those.

* * *

><p>"Professor, it's not like I was trying to expose us. I hesitated, but those kids were in trouble," Ava explained, staring out the window. A dark cloud seemed to be looming over the mansion with her gloominess, and Xavier looked up at the sky with sad eyes. "I mean, shouldn't we be out there, saving lives with our powers? Why not let people know? I could use some gratitude for a change."<p>

The professor raised an eyebrow at her last statement, and she frowned when she realized how that had sounded. "Ava, I know that this is a confusing issue. Yes, helping others is the right thing to do, but we must also try to remain anonymous. At least for the present."

She turned toward him. "I don't see the harm in letting them know that we are out there, covering their backs. There are some out there that idolize people like this. Haven't you ever read a _Superman_ comic book?"

He smiled. "Yes, but that is fiction. An ideal world where man can do anything. We may have certain… advantages over our brethren, but we have our limits. Our… kryptonites, if you will." He paused, thinking over his next words carefully. "There may be those who would support us, but the majority of people out there are simply not ready to embrace the fact that mutants walk the earth." He paused again, looking Ava into the eyes with a determined look. "Look, Ava, I'm not blaming you for what you did. In fact, I'd have done the same thing in your place. I'm just saying that you need to do what you can, without revealing what you are."

Ava sighed, the cloud thundering softly. She concentrated on the sky and the weather she had inadvertently created dissipated after a few moments. "I just don't know, Professor. I just don't know."

As she walked out the door, he frowned.

* * *

><p>"I'm lost on what to actually do," Ava said as she walked towards the door of Alex's room. Alex watched her with a nervous look, his helmet in his hands. He hadn't even had time to change out of his biking gear before it was time for another Danger Room session, and then Ava barged in and started to talk about her problems. Not that he minded: he liked a girl in pink.<p>

"I know what you have to do, Ava," he said softly.

She raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Exactly what we've always done. Xavier thinks that we can walk on eggshells, but whatever happens, happens. We've never stopped to help people before, and we aren't going to stop now," explained Alex matter-o-factly. He knew when he was good.

She didn't seem to know how to process his words, and she eventually nodded. "Yeah. You're right. I guess if something happens that exposes us, it's not our fault. Thank you so much for the advice. You always know what to say." She reached over and hugged him tightly for a moment, before heading off.

Alex looked no better than a pile of mush when she released him. He wondered just how many shades of red he was glowing, as he leaned over to pick up the new guitar.

He took a deep breath as he ran his fingers along the green and silver instrument's strings, thinking inspiring thoughts. It took him a full minute to realize that it was still time for Danger Room.

* * *

><p>Tristan wondered if he could absolutely hate assemblies any more than he already did. He stood there against the wall with other Brotherhood thugs, thinking of all the things he could be doing instead. He felt unguarded with that many people around, that many voices running through his ears.<p>

Archie and Astoria- surprise, surprise- were fighting again. Lily stood in the middle with Jade and Tristan, the three of them trying to separate the two arguing elementals.

"Oh, come on! Why can't you two stop your stupid fights?" Lily yelled, loud enough that a few freshmen looked up at them with confusion from the stands. Lily raised an eyebrow, smirked, and clicked her extremely long and sharp nails across the bare skin of her arm. Her unkempt brown hair only came down to her jaw line, and it seemed to add to the "animalistic" view.

Needless to say, the freshmen turned away.

"Because Archie can't keep his stupid mischief to himself," Astoria complained, her blue highlights odd in the light of the gymnasium.

"And Astoria is extremely fun to mess with," retorted Archie, cracking his usual grin. He pulled his blue jean jacket closer to him subconsciously, as though cold.

The pyrokinetic rolled her eyes, smiling her almost ever-present smile. "Whatever. At least I'm mature enough to keep my business to myself."

Archie looked over at her, before making it obvious that he was looking her up and down. She was wearing a short black skirt and a white tanktop covered by a blue jacket. A very revealing outfit.

"Yeah. You literally scream, 'mature.'"

Jade scoffed, feeling the emerging argument coming. "Don't even start, if you know what is good for you."

Nobody seemed to be listening, so Tristan glared at both of them. "Stop it. Both of you. If we spent less time arguing and more time training, we might have won back on that stupid asteroid. So stop it. Right now."

For a long moment, the others were quiet. Tristan took a moment to look around, seeing a girl stumbling around, staring at a sheet of paper. She looked a little lost and a little uncoordinated. _Must be new_, he thought. She had black hair with purple high-lights, and she was wearing a shirt that showed her bare mid-drift.

Archie huffed. "Who died and made you boss man?"

"Mystique," he said without skipping a beat.

Before anyone else could comment, the assistant principal walked up to the microphone. "And now, everyone. Let's give a warm, Bayville welcome, to our new principal, Mr. Edward Kelly."

Everyone clapped and cheered as the thin man with small glasses and a nice suit took the podium. Tristan noticed the bottle of water sitting on the stand almost as fast as Archie did.

In Archie's one simple squeezing motion, the water bottle exploded and the bottle cap shot off, the water drenching the man's nice blue suit. Everyone laughed at first, and the X-Men looked at them disparagingly.

After Kelly patted his soaked suit, which looked like he had peed himself, he finally took the microphone and adjusted his glasses. "Well, I might be wet, but the show must go on." A few students laughed as he stood more confidently. "Anyway, I want to welcome you all to a new semester. I know that filling the vacuum left by your previous principal, Miss Darkholme, will not be an easy job." Tristan and the others shared an uneasy glance. "But it's a challenge to which I am looking forward. And that brings me to what I hope will become a theme for the new semester: meeting new challenges. You know, most of us go through life thinking we are not so different from the people around us. That's a mistake. Because I'll wager that everyone of us here has some unique talents. Some special gifts. Some ability that makes us stand out from the crowd."

"Well, he hit the nail on the head with that one," Jade murmured.

"However, with that said, I want your second priority to be… supporting the girls' swimming team for the championship. And that means that I want every one of you to come out tonight for the pre-game rally! Can we count on you?"

Everyone was screaming loudly at this point, and the Brotherhood just looked on at the man who would be challenging them in the future.

* * *

><p>Dean stared at her phone. She had been doing it for a while now, just standing at her locker and staring at her phone sitting on the shelf.<p>

Suddenly, someone tapped her on the shoulder and broke her reverie. "Hey, Adeana!"

The Inuit girl turned uneasily to see her new friend Risty behind her, the English accent thick on her tongue. "Oh, hey."

"Is something wrong? I know you've only known me for about an hour, but I promise you that I can be a good ear," Risty offered, and Dean smiled softly.

Dena didn't want to open up at first, but the legitimate look of seriousness and trust on her face won the voice manipulator over. "I just a call from the Elder of my village hometown. See, I'm Inuit, if that really matters. Anyways, it just made me really homesick."

"Homesick?" Risty asked, raising an eyebrow. "Really? I know the feeling. And you should be proud of your heritage, Dean. The person that you are."

Dean grabbed her phone and closed her locker. "I am proud of who I am, just not what I ca-" She cut herself off, not wanting to say anything more. Risty stared at her expectantly. Finally, Dean shifted carefully. "I just wonder if I'd be better off at home. Recent events have made me think carefully about why I'm still here. I just don't want things to get bad."

"Aw, come on. You gotta give a girl more than that," Risty tried, smiling. "C'mon, girls live off of gossip and rumors and drama!"

Dean laughed a little, and a feeling of euphoria was spread to the few people who could hear her; happiness was literally spreading. Interestingly, Risty didn't seem to be infected by the sound of her laughter.

"No, sorry. I just have to be careful. Too careful. Or something bad might happen." Dean stared down at herself guiltily before walking off. Risty thought she heard Dean mumble, "Again."

The English transfer student made a mental note before walking away.

* * *

><p>While waiting outside Archie's van, Jade sat there and wished that the day would just end. She would prefer to just get back to the boarding house and back to sleep. Hell, she wanted her old life back, as dysfunctional and religious as it was.<p>

Her dad still made her mad sometimes, whenever she was unfortunately bored enough to think of him. Sometimes, she felt like she was doing everything in slow motion, which was quite the contrast to her dad's fast-paced attitude.

She sighed as Tristan looked up, just as the pink and brown-haired leader of the X-Men walking up. He smirked a little before heading over towards her.

"Please tell me that you can make this day a little more interesting, Pinky. I'm so bored!"

Jade's brow furrowed in confusion. Since when does Tristan care about Ava making him any less bored? His mood swings almost gave her whip-lash, as though he never could figure out how he should feel. It gave Jade a headache.

Ava continued walking, something obviously bugging her. "Leave me alone, Arsenal. I'm not in the mood."

But Tristan grabbed her arm, begging her to stay, and another hand latched onto his shoulder. Jade looked on with confusion as Alex had suddenly appeared, the weather manipulator's usual knight in shining armor.

"Leave her alone, Tristan. She's got a lot on her mind," Alex tried, but the leader of the Brotherhood shoved off the energy manipulator's hand before he could do anything.

"Eh, why don't you make me?" Alex's hands involuntarily glowed. "Fine. Blast me, right here, right now. Where the whole world can see!" After a long moment, his hands stopped glowing, and Tristan glared at him. "That's what I thought. I get so sick of your arrogance!"

Alex just rolled his eyes before backing off, walking in the other direction with Ava. He didn't look too happy, but Jade couldn't care less.

"I'm so sick of hiding our powers! And those X-Geeks lording it over us!"

Jade smirked. "Yeah, me too. But Mystique said…"

"Do you really care what Mystique says?" asked Tristan. "I mean, what's the point? Why don't we show off our unique gifts to the world? I think we deserve some recognition!"

_And he thinks that the X-Men are arrogant,_ Jade wondered. Since when does Tristan get so hot and bothered? He's usually cool and collected, but something must be bothering him lately. Ever since that trip he took a while back, when Mystique was still around.

Jade was determined to figure out what was up.

* * *

><p>The cheering all around them was absolutely deafening. The whole gang was there, watching Rivera and her "sisters" get ready for their event. The whole school seemed to be present, plus the parents and family in the stands.<p>

Principal Kelly smiled and walked up to the side of the pool, the colors washing over his newer suit. He was holding a microphone, ready for another rousing speech. "In appreciation for the team spirit that has brought us all the way to tonight's championship event, we'd like to present our school mascot, the Bayville Hawk!"

He gestured towards the top of the scoreboard, where a lump of tarp was sitting. A man yanked the tarp off, revealing a huge golden statue of a hawk. At Kelly's cue, the man lit the fuse, causing the wings of the bird to be lined in fire. Everyone cheered as several firework blasts lit up the night sky with many colors.

"Now! Let the races begin!"

The referee blew the whistle, and Rivera and her sisters jumped into the water, diving under with excellent skill. Before they could even get half-way, the announcer was suddenly interrupted. Grant looked up in confusion, and then gestured to the others.

"What are they up to?"

"Hey! Can I get your attention up here?" Tristan said, dressed in his tight black outfit with red markings on the shoulders and around the waist. The spotlight focused on the top of the press-box, revealing the Brotherhood standing on top of it.

Lily was in beast mode, staring down at them with annoyance and anticipation. Jade's hands were glowing slightly as she adjusted her dark black jeans and yellow leather jacket. Archie huffed from his cut-off blue jean jacket and dark blue jeans. Astoria was the most outlandish of them all, in a dark skirt with fishnet-leggings and a bright blue blouse that showed the little cleavage she had; her black boots went half-way up her leg.

"Tristan?" Ava said in surprise. Kris sighed, and Alex shot up like it was the end of the world. "What are they doing, Professor?"

Xavier made no comment, as Arsenal continued his speech.

"That's better," he said, looking from one end of the crowd to the next. "My name's Tristan, but I also call myself Arsenal. Because I'm a mutant!"

The X-Men gasped.

"That's right. Me, Spice, Madidus, Belle, and Matrix here. We're all mutants," he said, the confusion clear on the shouting crowd's face. "Born with a freaky gene that makes us different from the rest."

"Why is he doing this?" Kris asked.

"Yep. We've got a genetic difference that gives us an extra ability, the likes of which you've never seen before," explained Tristan, who then pointed to the crowd. "Lots of people at Bayville High are mutants, believe it or not. Like Alex Rogers over there. And your big swimming stars, the Smith Sisters, are actually only one girl with the ability to split herself into three, Rivera. All of their pals at the Xavier Institute are mutants too, since it's a school for mutants like us."

Dean slightly groaned. "Wow. We've been exposed."

"Let me give you an example of what we mutants can do. Prepare to have your minds blown by our amazing gifts," Tristan shouted, before gesturing to Archie.

The hydrokinetic swiped his hand through the air, instantly making the water in the pool wave back and forth, throwing the swimmers around. Rivera groaned as her clones vanished with flashes of white light, shocking the crowd even more than they already were.

Archie lifted his hands and made a fist, instantly making all the water rise up and form a large sphere over the pool. The swimmers swum around, trapped in the watery sphere. If the audience wasn't freaked out before, they were now.

"And the principal… we felt it might be better if he had a better... outlook on mutants." Instantly, Belle leapt from the press box and landed on the side of the pool on her feet, leaving a crack in the concrete. She roared, making a surprisingly panther-like growl. Then with surprising speed, she dashed towards Kelly and pounced onto him, throwing him to the ground.

Ava looked towards the professor, making a grab for her bag. "Sorry, but we have to do something."

The man could only nod as the X-Men left to change into their uniforms. He made a mental call for Storm.

"And we really don't like the new mascot either," Arsenal added, gesturing to Spice. "Why don't we watch it burn?"

The pyrokinetic Goth snapped her fingers and the flames came to life on the statue, changing to blue flames within a fraction of a second. They leapt up and fire-balled over the fleeing audience, some colliding with the empty bleachers and others hitting the construction site behind the school, setting it aflame. A wall of fire suddenly appeared around the exits, stopping anyone from leaving.

The level of panic was extremely high, and the news cameras were getting it all. However, from out of nowhere, a green blast of energy made the camera explode, knocking the cameraman back.

"Sorry!" Dynamo yelled as the X-Men appeared from where they had been changing.

"X-Men, let's get 'em!" Ava yelled, her eyes glowing. A gale of wind suddenly knocked Lily off of her feet, and the Brotherhood member had to struggle to stay standing.

Spice launched a fireball from the flames around them, growing larger and larger by the second, draping everyone in blue light. Just before it struck, Aurum formed a shield using his golden hands and absorbed the blast.

"Dang, that's hot," he muttered.

"Why, thank you!" Astoria said with a creepy grin.

Grant rolled his eyes, blocking another fiery attack. "Not what I meant."

Kris took a blast of heat to his absorbing body and then started to fire concentrated bursts of orange light from his hands, trying to overtake them all before they could jump off of the press box and into the fray. But Matrix used her powers to slow down the beams, interval by interval to give them time.

The Brotherhood members jumped from the press box and started attacking. Madidus, still holding his sphere of water in the air, shot rocket after rocket of water into the group of X-Men, but Sparkplug blasted the water apart with heat before they could even get close.

Belle leapt from one side of the pool to the next, immediately toppling into Echo.

"Get off me, you hairy freak!" The tripling girl managed to make her clones appear and then yank the beast-girl off of her, but Belle kept slashing.

"Don't you dare call me that again!" Rivera barely managed to dodge the strikes and slashes using moves that only a dancing movie could teach her.

Tempest flung lightning bolt after lightning bolt at Matrix, but the enemy was able to dodge each strike using her defensive powers.

"It'll take more than that," Matrix stated, backtracking again and again as her hands flashed with yellow energy.

Ava smiled. "Okay. Why not?" She concentrated hard for a long moment when finally, a gust of wind slammed into the Brotherhood member, throwing her into a wall.

Dynamo blasted the watery sphere with a high-powered beam of green energy, releasing the trapped swimmers and Madidus's hold. Water and athletes fell from the air and back into the pool.

"Hey! That's no fair!"

"All's fair in war!" Dynamo retorted, firing another blast right at Archie.

The blond thug suddenly morphed into water and slid away to dodge it, like a geyser of water. The mutant's green blast collided with a section of bleachers behind him. Before Alex could do anything, Madidus suddenly waved his hands and several tentacles of water lashed at the X-Man.

Golden tendril-like fingers spread in front of Alex, intercepting the watery attacks. "Can I cut in?" Grant asked, and the metabolic energy converter nodded.

Tristan scoffed as he saw the Brotherhood struggling as usual. He held up his fingers in a gun-like motion, ready to end things himself. He aimed toward Rivera and fired, a concentrated beam of red energy fired from his fingertips. Just before the attack could hit Echo, still pre-occupied battling Belle, a green blast of energy took the brunt of the attack and diverted the energy.

"Why don't you fight someone your own size?" Dynamo taunted.

"Well, you big lug, that wouldn't be you, would it?" Arsenal countered, firing a blast at the enemy mutant.

* * *

><p>Dean looked around, watching the carnage. She saw Lily and Rivera's dance of flurrying limbs, and Kris's attempts to blast Astoria with her own heat and fire. Grant was dueling Archie for dominance, and Ava was attempting to guide the swimmers and crowds to somewhere more safe. Alex and Tristan were deadlocked, blast after blast colliding in the middle with a cloud of smoke.<p>

In other words… it was utter chaos.

She clawed at her throat, wishing that she could do more. But her powers were too dangerous, too risky to use in this situation. Because of how she had yelled out at Rivera's swim meet the other day, she almost blew up the surrounding ear drums. And she wasn't sure how much help her powers could be to heal any of that.

Dean didn't know what to do. She didn't know where to go. Or what place she fit into this world. She missed home, she missed her tribe. She missed her life before she learned she was a mutant, and life was too complicated here in Bayville.

She took a deep breath from her place at the top of the bleachers. She was aware of the people around her, and she hoped that this would work out well in the end.

"EVERYBODY STOP!"

Instantly, every person in the area would could hear her clutched their ears, their heads pounding. The fights stopped as everyone was subject to Dean's powers. She instantly felt guilty, and her jaw dropped when some of them collapsed.

_Oh, God. What have I done?_

She rapidly began yelling the words, "Heal! Reverse the damage I caused!" Over and over again, loud enough for most, if not all, to hear. The ones who had collapsed were still down, but everyone seemed to be recovering.

She sobbed.

Tristan gathered up the Brotherhood and hoisted the still unconscious Jade onto his shoulders. "Fine. This is over. We're out of here. Enjoy the exposure." They ran out of the stadium, the flames around the exits bending away for them. The crowds cowered away from them as they approached, and Lily gave them a big roar. They scampered back even farther.

Dean looked around at her friends, and they didn't comment. _Probably thinking about how much of a freak I am_, she wondered.

Suddenly, clouds gathered over the entire school. Rain started to pour over everyone as the X-Men gathered closer together, worried for the future they were about to face.

Storm flew in and touched down, glad that her rain was stopping the fires that had been spreading. The audience started to calm down, and none seemed to want to leave.

"Good work, Storm," the professor said, a worried expression on his face.

"Yes, but no downpour can make people forget what they've seen here today," Ororo advised, holding Ava close. "The secret is out."

"Maybe not, if I can alter the memory of what has happened," the Professor reasoned.

"No! That's too many! Even your mind cannot stand such a strain," she argued.

Kris stepped forward, an orange spark firing from his fingertips. "I might can help with that."

"No, it's too risky. I'm not sure what kind of damage my invasive mind might cause, if I was super-charged," Xavier warned. "Frankly, I don't have a choice. I have to do this alone."

He placed both hands on his temples, feeling his mind washing over the minds of the spectators. He could feel their emotions, their fear. It took him only mere seconds to wipe a mind and implant a false memory. Mind after mind, consciousness after consciousness. Finally, he got to Principal Kelly's mind. He wiped the actual events from the man's brain, but just when he arrived at suspicion, he yelled out and pain erupted in his mind.

Xavier retreated, hearing his students yelling for him as he lost consciousness.

* * *

><p>Xavier bolted awake, groaning as the too bright light of the room hit his eyes. Ororo, Logan, Keiko, and Ava were standing before him.<p>

"Easy, Charles," Logan warned. "Take it slow. You threw your brain into overload."

"But it worked! Eyewitnesses believe that the hawk's exploding fireworks caused all the damage."

"What about the broadcast? How much got out?"

"None," Logan answered. "It seems that there was some kind of weird magnetic interference that knocked the station off the air seconds before."

"Magnetic?" Xaiver wondered. "Hmm. Could it be that he's still alive?"

"Magneto? I wouldn't doubt it," Logan said.

"Yeah, as resourceful as he is," Keiko added. "Especially after the Savage Land incident."

"Anyway, I guess I owe you an apology, Professor. I saw how scared those people were. Part of that could be because we nearly set them on fire, and then Dean almost gave them all brain tumors," Ava said with an awkward laugh. "But either way, that was not the way to let people know. I'm sorry."

"I'm afraid you're right, Ava. Hopefully, Tristan and the others will come to realize that now," Xavier said, resting his head against the pillow once more. "My only concern is with Principal Kelly. I was inside his mind when I blacked out, and I'm not sure that I finished the job."

With that, everyone left the room to let Xavier have some sleep, their minds heavy with questions. Xavier thought over all that had happened, and was about to turn in for the night when someone knocked on the door.

"Come in," he called out.

Dean walked in timidly, and Xavier smiled. "Xavier, I'm so sorry for what happened earlier. I lost control, and even though I managed to revert what I had done after you were knocked out, I still feel guilty."

"Guilt is a sign that you are a good person, Adeana. You feel for your mistakes, and that is why you are good."

The girl smiled. "Thanks, but that's not really what I'm here for. I don't know how to say it, but I'm just going to get on with it." She paused, not sure she could trust her voice to stay calm. "I need to head back to the tribe for a while. I've got to get a lot off of my chest, and I think some time alone will help. I promise that I will be careful not to hurt anyone while I'm there, and I will tr-"

"It's okay, Dean. I understand," he said with a sad smile. "You forget that I'm a mind reader."

She smiled. "Yeah, I suppose that's true."

"Dean, I have no problems with you leaving, just as long as you keep in touch regularly. You understand that you are a level five mutant, and that entitles you to some special circumstances. You are a valuable person, Dean. You have so much power that many people like Magneto would fight for. I just want you to be careful."

"I promise that I will. And thanks for understanding."

She hugged him around the neck, and he smiled sadly.

* * *

><p>"What do you mean?" asked Rivera. "You're leaving?"<p>

Dean nodded, her bags packed. Storm was already out at the car, waiting to drive her to the airport. "Yes. I think this is going to be good for me."

"But I don't understand," Ava argued. "You were doing so well, and now you're just going to leave?"

"I have to. I don't want to hurt anyone any more, and I think some time with my family will help. Besides, I'll see you again."

Ava opened her mouth to argue, but Alex interrupted her. "Ava, it's her decision. She wants to do this for herself." He turned to Dean, before running up and hugging her around the neck, making her laugh the whole time. "I hope it helps."

"We'll miss you!" Kris cried out, smiling as he joined the hug.

Before long, they were all there, hugging her and laughing. Dean's powers were affecting them, giving them a higher sense of euphoria, but for once in her mutant life, she didn't care.

She walked away from the smiling family, crying as she got into the car.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope that you enjoyed the first chapter of Season Two. <strong>

**Yep, Dean is leaving the Institute for a while, but it won't be the last time we see her. I hope it doesn't anger anyone, but she is very hard to write. I hope this transitional chapter for her decision to leave was done relatively well. **

**Hopefully, I'll have the next chapter by next weekend. Considering my track record, we'll see. **


	22. Bada bing Bada boom: Meet the Fosters

_**Disclaimer: As always, I don't own X-Men: Evolution or any of it's characters. **_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Bada-bing Bada-boom:<strong>_  
><em><strong>Meet the Fosters<strong>_

As the bus rolled to a stop outside the small house, she faintly sighed when she realized that the small cottage was surrounded by much larger buildings, and she thought it a gem among the urbanization to see such a small home.

She gathered her things and walked up the aisles, passing by tourists and city-goers alike. She waved bye to the bus driver as she paid her toll, thankful that she had changed her Euros to American dollars when she arrived at the airport.

As soon as she exited the bus, she took a small sniff and grimaced at the smells of the city. It made her miss the fields of grass and groves of trees surrounding her old farmhouse back home, across the pond.

Bayville was not a dirty city, unlike the time when she had visited her father in New York City. That place was practically a landfill compared to here.

As the bus rolled away, one of the tires hit a puddle and splashed street grime all over her new jacket. "Oh là là!" she cried out, looking at the muddy liquid now contrasting with the white fabric. She looked around, seeing if anyone was watching, and concentrated. Nothing happened for a moment, but as she waved her hand over the dirty spot, her hand seemed to vacuum the mud away from the liquid, forming a tiny ball of earth between her palm and the fabric. Once she was satisfied that the dirt was all gone, and that only water remained, she flicked her wrist and the ball of sludge clattered against the sidewalk over thirty feet away.

That was one of the advantages of being a mutant, she supposed. Sadly, there were other disadvantages. She thought of her past and grimaced, before she headed into her father's quaint home.

* * *

><p>The ocean air was humid and the sound of gulls filled the cliff-side, waves crashing against the rocks below. One boy frowned as he had to pretend to be unconscious, his mind filled with thoughts of new inventions and new calculations.<p>

He heard the sound of the footsteps hitting the rocks as someone repelled down: Ava, he thought.

"Target is unconscious," she barked up into a communicator. "Tigress, get down here with that basket."

Grant groaned. "The probabilities of her getting down here without getting distracted by a wild bird are slim to none…"

"Oh, quit your math mumbo-jumbo, Aurum," Ava cried. "You're supposed to be unconscious."

Up on top, all the New Mutants were assembled and waiting their turn to repel down the side of the cliff. Some who had done this exercise before were familiar with it, but Jacquelyn hadn't tried it yet.

Logan walked forward and tapped the lithe French girl on the shoulder. "Tigger, you're up."

She sighed, her reverie broken. "Sorry, got a bit distracted. And it's Tigress, Wolfie."

He growled, but let it go.

She began the descent, using the grappling system to keep her balanced. The girl seemed to be focused enough, but suddenly, she jumped up as a new sound reached her ears, shaking the basket dangerously.

Grant sighed deeply, wishing that he hadn't been the test dummy for this.

"All right, Goldilocks, you ready?" she asked when the basket was level with the rock that the supposed-to-be-knocked-out-cold mutant was lying on.

"Would you stop? I don't even have golden hair. It's black! Not gold!"

She rolled her eyes. "It's pretty half-n-half, actually. There're some streaks. When's the last time you looked in the mirror?"

He rolled his eyes.

"Tigress, you're supposed to use codenames for this mission. That's why they exist," Ava called out from above, hanging on the cliffside.

"Oh, but I like Goldilocks much better than Aurum. What's 'aurum' mean anyways?"

Grant sighed. "Aurum is another name for gold, which is the most malleable metal. My body has many of the properties of gold, which is why I can stretch to great lengths and twist my body into shapes."

"Oh," she murmured. "Well then, why don't you stretch yourself up to the top of the cliff?"

An audible groan came from all the New Mutants above, and Ava face-palmed.

Logan's voice barked into the comm-link, "Just get the kid into the basket and up here, now!"

She nodded meekly, not expecting the shout. Some of the kids above were laughing.

Jacquelyn morphed into tiger form for a split-second, before pushing the heavy rocks off of the mutant's legs, and briefly watched them fall down the heights and into the water below. Then she morphed back and pulled him into the basket, all while keeping the swaying basket as steady as she could.

"There. Now that that is settled, send it up!"

But before the machine could start working, Grant suddenly slipped off, his body slack and impossibly long, as it would be if he were really unconscious. She had enough time to gasp before his fingers reached out and latched onto the basket, and like a bungee cord, he pulled himself back inside.

"Did you like my logical test for your reaction? Tigress, you didn't strap me in."

She scoffed as the mechanical pulley switched directions and began pulling it upward, and after awhile, the basket finally reached the top and the mutant girl pulled Grant off of the sled.

She cheered, glad that it had been successful. "So did I do it or what?"

Ava pulled herself up, as Logan clapped the petite auburn-haired girl on the back. "Hmm, yeah. You did good, Tigger," he muttered.

The professor suddenly appeared, and pointed at Grant. "You, on the other hand, did not. Come with me, all of you."

* * *

><p>"Grant, usually, I admit that your ideas are valid and could possibly do some good for the group," explained Xavier as he looked at them all within the planning room. "But you put yourself at risk. This wasn't a simulation, as I'm sure you are well aware. Any ideas on a regular exercise that put yourself at risk, or anyone else for that matter, is not acceptable. Do you understand?"<p>

The boy frowned, his head held low. "Yes, I understand. It won't happen again, Professor."

"Good. Now, get upstairs and get some rest. It's going to be a wonderful day at school, I believe."

* * *

><p>"Wow, this place is nasty. I can't think straight with all of this crud everywhere," Jade muttered, running her hands through her dark hair.<p>

The place was disgusting. The trash hadn't been taken out in what could be weeks, the wallpaper was ripped and stained in various places, and dishes piled up all over the house.

"I didn't think you could think much," Archie said with a snicker.

"Oh, that's really funny. Coming from someone with mush for brains."

"Jade's right, Archie. Not only is the food practically gone, the house is falling apart," Astoria said from the hole-ridden couch.

"Yeah, since Mystique left, this whole place has been a mess," Tristan added from in front of the tiny television with rabbit ears.

A sudden growl came from somewhere in the house, and everyone turned to listen. Lily suddenly bounded forward in full beast mode, almost touching the ceiling as she stomped through the house and up the stairs.

"What are you doing, Belle?" asked Jade as everyone stopped around the corner to watch her.

"If Mystique is not coming back, then we'll ransack her room for some money. We need it to function." She rammed her powerful body into the door, but it didn't budge. Three more loud thumps erupted until she finally stopped trying to break into the impregnable door.

"Why does this feel familiar?" Archie muttered, thinking of the door and of the situation. But before he could think any longer, Tristan suddenly whipped around and blasted a small red laser into the hydrokinetic, and his whole body reverted to water and splashed to the ground.

Finally understanding what he was supposed to do, he pushed himself under the crack in the door and then reformed, opening the door once he had. "You know, this is the second time I've had to get underneath this door."

"Your point is?" asked Jade.

He shrugged, and the five teens got to work trying to get any money they could find.

"Are you guys sure this is a good idea? I mean, what if Mystique comes back and-"

Tristan locked eyes with her. "Mystique is not coming back, Astoria. She's as good as dead now, and we might as well fend for ourselves." He suddenly held up his hands and showed a wad of cash. The boy pointed to the bed-side table, where underneath was a safe that now had a hole burnt through the lock. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd still like to take advantage of an education."

Jade watched him head through the door, wondering if he'd ever been who he said he was. Even after they knew he was a spy for HYDRA, his personality kept shifting, like he was trying to keep them happy. Jade was going to ask him why he was acting so off lately.

* * *

><p>"Good morning, students!" the voice of Principal Kelly erupted over the intercom. "Tonight is the big night! The Bayville High Carnival Fundraiser! Now, remember folks! All proceeds will go to rebuilding our gymnasium after last month's fire! So… we really hope to see you all back here tonight!"<p>

The new girl was just walking into the office when she saw Principal Kelly opening up a picture frame and showing the secretary the safe hidden behind it.

"Oh, excuse moi," she said, not sure if she was supposed to know that or not.

The principal looked up and stopped her from walking out. "Oh, no. It's fine. You must be Camille, right? Our new foreign exchange student from France! It's very good to meet you!"

"Why, merci, Principal Kelly," she said with a sweet smile.

"Dorothy, can you get her things ready for her first day? And find her an escort, would you?" he said, walking around the corner to his office. "It's very nice to meet you, Camille. We look forward to having you."

"Az do I, Monsieur Kelly."

After a few minutes of preparations, a girl with olive skin and straight black hair walked into the office with a smile on her face. "You asked for me?"

"Oh, hi, Rivera. Could you please show Camille to all of her classes? Make sure that you speak kindly about all of us teachers too!"

"I will," she said with a smile. "Come on, Camille. I'll show you around."

The French girl made sure she had her schedule packed away and followed Rivera through the doors and into the hallway.

"So where are you from?" asked Rivera.

"I've lived in France for all my life, on a little farm far from the big cities. I'm staying with my father now, and he's lived in Bayville for the last few month," explained Camille, feeling a little guilty since not everything was true.

"Ah, so you're a country gal? And you're French? I'll bet one of my housemates, Jacquelyn, would love to meet you. She's from Paris!"

"Oh, really? That's so neat!"

Just as they rounded the corner, Camille suddenly bumped into someone, and immediately felt wet before both bodies stumbled to the ground. When she looked up, her eyes widened in shock.

A very familiar boy was sprawled across from her, his clothes not wet at all, unlike hers. Had he spilled a drink or something? Regardless of that, Camille knew that she knew who the boy was, but she couldn't place his name. The color of his hair, the shape of his nose. It was unmistakable. But she couldn't remember who he was supposed to be.

The boy was angry. "Watch where you're going."

"Hey, back off of her, Archie. It was an accident," Rivera said defensively, before pulling her up.

"Je suis désolé," she said, before translating, "Er, I'm sorry."

She heard the name. Archie. Why did that sound so familiar? Before she knew it, she broke out into a cold sweat and looked down at her wet clothes, before jumping in surprise.

"What's wrong? You're all wet," Rivera asked as she ushered them away from the angry boy. "Don't worry about him, he's just a jerk. You okay?"

"No, I'm not. I just hate… water," she said, but it wasn't entirely true. While she didn't like water, she was more scared of the person she had just remembered.

Archibald.

Her younger brother.

* * *

><p><em>She sat at the table of the big mansion, playing with her dolls. She was just about to have another tea party when her two-year-old brother waltzed in like a waddling baby duck, still in diapers because the little baby couldn't handle liquid. <em>

_She was almost four years old and was already tired of her brother's little kid games (although she had fun pretending that Archibald was her little baby doll). _

"_Archie, leave me alone," she yelled. "I don't have time for your games."_

_The boy huffed down and plopped onto his cushioned bottom, before throwing a teething ring into his mouth. _

_She got up and took her doll with her, before walking out of the room and onto the upstairs hallway, when the voices caught her attention. One of them sounded German, and the others belonged to her parents. _

"_..you sure that the gene lives in them?" asked the German voice, a man's. _

"_Yes, we're positive. We had the doctor run a test at the hospital you referred us to," explained her mother. "Both of them will be mutants."_

_She had no idea what this meant, but she didn't like the sound of it. _

"_Good," the German man said. "I pray that they will be worth the price?"_

_Her father stepped in at this moment. "No. Not they, sir. I'll only give you the girl. We refuse to give up our son."_

_The man tsked, and by this point, Camille was mystified and terrified. But she refused to cry. _

"_We'll still pay you the price of both, Strucker. We just can't give up our baby boy!" exclaimed her mother, tears evident on her face and a sadness in her voice. _

"_Triple the price, to make up for the loss of potential numbers," explained the German man. "Or it's a no deal. And I believe you know what happens to those who don't make deals with the great Baron von Strucker."_

"_Yes, sir," her father answered. "Of course we do, and we will pay you whatever price we may to let us keep our son."_

* * *

><p>Camille froze, the memories suddenly rushing back. She squandered all attempts to explain herself to Rivera and headed straight for the bathroom, tears running down her face. She headed into a stall and sat there for what felt like hours.<p>

"Camille, I do not know what problems you have, and I cannot begin to understand them if I have not been through them. But I am a good listener, and if you ever need anything, I will be there for you," explained the voice of a girl from across the bathroom. "I promise."

Rivera.

After a long moment of hesitation, she dried up her tears and pushed out of the stall, and smiled weakly at the form of Rivera. The girl embraced Camille almost immediately, giving her a source of strength.

"You don't have to talk about it now, if you do not want to," she said. "But I promise that it will help."

Camille nodded after a long moment to calm herself down. "I promise that I will talk when I'm ready. But, aren't I going to be late?"

Rivera grinned. "Oh, sorry. I forgot. Let's get you to your homeroom." After a moment, Camille pulled out the schedule and was happy to see that they had the same homeroom and first period. "All right, follow me."

The two girls smiled, but Camille was in a whole different world, reliving memories of her past.

* * *

><p>Alex walked through the lunchroom with his over-stuffed plate, with Grant coming up close behind him. He searched for a table and spotted Ava sitting with Rivera. A girl he had never seen before was sitting between them, and she had dark blond hair and very blue, almost hazel eyes.<p>

"Hey, who's this?" Alex said with a cheerful grin.

"You're sitting in Dean's spot," Kris muttered.

"Oh, um, je sui- I mean, I'm sorry," the girl said sadly. "Should I get up?"

"No, you're fine exactly where you are," reassured Ava. "Kris, Grant, Alex, this is Camille, the new foreign exchange student."

"Dean moved away about a month ago, so we still miss her a little, including her spot at the table," Rivera explained.

They went around and introduced themselves, each explaining where they were from and the kinds of things they liked to do. Camille seemed to be enjoying herself and getting to know everyone, until her eyes seemed to lock with another pair across the room.

"You okay?" asked Kris. "Is Archie bothering you already? I swear, that kid deserves to be hit in the face."

She shook her head. "Non," she lied. "He's not bothering me."

"Good," Alex said. "He's pretty tame most of the time, but if you anger him, he can be a pest."

"Are you kidding?" asked Ava curiously. "He's always a pest. What planet do you live on?"

They all laughed, except Camille. She looked at him from across the room with a stony, stoic expression on her face.

"So is anyone going to the carnival tonight?" asked Grant. "I hear that it's going to be pretty fun."

Alex shot a furtive glance to Ava, one she didn't notice. "No, I can't. I've got some homework to do while I've got the time."

"Yeah, I wanted to go and check it out," explained Rivera, before turning to Camille. "You should totally come with us. It'll be a blast!"

She considered it, continually glancing towards Archie and his group of friends. "I guess it would be okay. I'll ask."

"All right, you have my number," Rivera said. "Call me when you know for sure after school, okay? You can meet us there!"

Camille nodded, just as the bell rang for the next class. Rivera guided her to her room, before leaving the new girl to face the dreaded subject of Economics all by herself. Compared to the trials and tribulations she had been through though, even the most boring subject in the entire existence that is the universe could be sufferable.

* * *

><p>After a long day of school, Camille was just about ready to drop, but she knew she had to ask her dad about the carnival later that night.<p>

She walked through the door, automatically smelling one of dad's… concoctions brewing in the kitchen. Lately, he had been on a soup binge, and he refused to stop until he managed to make the perfect blend of chicken noodle and tomato soup. The idea was repulsive enough talking to him on the phone, having to smell it in person was worse.

"Cammy! How was your day?" he yelled, knowing exactly when she had walked through the door, despite his busy antics.

She followed into the kitchen and sat her stuff down, trying not to breathe. "Bonjour, Père. It was better than I had expected. I met some really good friends, and they want me to come with them to the school carnival tonight." She deliberately left out possibly seeing her brother for the first time since the day she was sold.

Her foster father was an older man with a scraggly gray beard and wrinkled skin. He was a bit overweight, but not quite fat. And he had the kindest smile that she could ever imagine.

"Oh good. I don't see why not. You'll have to tell me all about them, okay?"

She went into detail about each of them, describing everything from Grant's too-large vocabulary to Alex's horrid eating habits. By the end of it, she had talked for over an hour, and it was almost time for her to meet them at the school. "Hey, dad, I've got to go. I'll see you later, when I get home tonight, okay?"

He nodded. "All right. Have a good time. Do you need a ride to school?"

She shook her head. "No, I'll walk. The school's only a few blocks away."

As she was about to head out the door, he stopped her. "Don't forget to put on shoes. This isn't the country like my sister's farmhouse back in France; you need to remember to not go barefoot."

She smiled and pulled on her shoes. "Okay."

* * *

><p>The most beautiful thing the boy had ever seen was sitting in front of him, behind a glass pane. She had such wonderful curves, and her coloring was almost to die for. Nearly as good as the sight of a triple decked subway sandwich.<p>

"Are you sure that you want this one?" asked a voice behind him. "We have cheaper ones in the back."

"No, this girl is perfect!" Alex said, smiling at the sight.

The shopkeeper reached into the case and pulled out the Les Paul guitar painted in a black finish with green and brown accents. "Are you sure that this is the one you want? This is expensive, and nearly a collector's item. I don't want to make you go poor, kid."

Alex thought for a moment before grabbing the debit card out of his wallet. "I promise you that this is the one that I want. Sure, I can't break anything at Xavier's for the next twenty years, but I'm trying to impress someone."

The shopkeeper looked up at him with earnest eyes. "All right, I'll give you a twenty-five percent discount."

"Really? That's amazing!"

"Yeah, I remember when I was your age. I figure I'll help you out. I just hope you can play as well as you pay."

Alex smiled at the shopkeeper. "Trust me, I can play."

As the boy exited the store, the sun nearly setting, he whispered, "How the hell am I going to learn to play this thing?"

* * *

><p>The carnival was a mass of swarming parents with their kids, interwoven throughout the rides and kiosks. The classic hamburgers and hotdogs filled the area, each benefiting the school after the fire.<p>

Camille was lost for a bit, until she finally met up with her newfound friends. Rivera, Grant, Kris, and Ava were already in line for one of the rides, the Spider Whirl.

"Hey, come on over. Join us," Kris shouted.

The girl happily joined the line and had almost endless amounts of fun with them riding rides, winning a prized teddy bear, and just simply being with friends. She was enjoying the fellowship.

Camille and her newfound friends were finally ready to ride the Spider Whirl again when she saw the blond boy, the boy who could possibly be her brother.

She decided right then and there that she was going to talk to him alone. To ask him what he knew about his parents.

"Hey, I've got to go to use the bathroom. You guys ride this one without me, I'll be back over here in a second," she said, and they all nodded. Camille slipped away and headed over to the blond boy, wearing a denim jacket and tattered blue jeans.

She tapped him on the shoulder, and he whirled around. "You're that girl from earlier, aren't you? What do you want?"

She found herself staring at him, thinking of her past. "Archie is your name, right? I'm Camille."

The name didn't seem to ring any bells with him. "Yeah, that's me. But if you'll excuse me, I've got more important things to do than to talk to you."

"But, Archibald, I'm your sister. Your sister Camille."

The boy froze, and for a moment didn't say anything at all. "Sister? I don't have a sister. And how'd you know my real name anyways?"

"Because I am your sister, Archie," explained Camille, thinking of ways to make him realize that she was telling the truth. "Your parents are Isabelle and Klaus Moreau. You don't remember me because you were only two years old when I was… sent away. They got divorced, didn't they? And you were sent to the United States when you were only five years old, and the foster care program took you, didn't they?"

Archie slowly but surely was taking in everything she was saying. "H-how'd you know? I've never told anyone that."

"Because the people that my birth parents sold me to… Yes, Archie, they _sold_ me, as though I was an animal," explained Camille. "The people who bought me were some kind of secret organization who performed experiments on me because I'm a…," she wasn't sure if he would understand it if she explained it, but she said it anyway, "mutant. Someone with an extra gene that gives them a superior ability over other humans. They said you were one too, but I didn't understand that at the time."

He was shocked beyond belief and was fighting to not believe anything she was saying. "If you are a mutant, show me. Right here, right now. Otherwise, get lost."

She looked around, knowing that the ground would be wet and muddy after setting up this whole carnival. She stuck out her hand, looked to make sure no one could see, and lifted some of the mud from the ground, until she had a solid ball an inch or two thick hovering above her hand.

"See! I'm a mutant. What can you do, since you knew what I was talking about?" she said, allowing the ball of mud to drop onto the ground below.

Like her, he stuck out his hand and pulled water from the mud, until he was holding a ball almost exactly like hers had been. Except it was only liquid.

"Isn't that enough reason to believe me, Archie?" she asked, drastically wanting him to believe her.

"Yeah, I guess," he said, out of place because he had no clue how to deal with this. It was enough to make anyone go crazy. "But we should probably go someplace more private to talk."

She nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

* * *

><p>They stood on the outskirts of the fair, away from everyone else. Camille was so focused on catching up with her long-lost brother that she didn't remember to tell anyone else where she had gone.<p>

"So… can you tell me exactly what happened to you? Since you obviously know what happened to me?" asked Archie tentatively. It was apparent that this conversation was awkward for everyone.

"Um, I guess. When I was almost four years old, our parents sold me to the organization HYDRA," Archie's eyes seemed to bulge out at HYDRA, but he kept his opinions to himself, a little too shocked to speak, " and I was shipped off to one of their facilities. It's a wonder that I'm not crazy, but I don't think the scientists wanted that to happen. They experimented on me, but I don't really remember if the early stage was painful or not, and I was too young to even really pay attention to little details. They accelerated my mutation time and my powers manifested a lot earlier because of it. I spent four years in that place until it happened."

* * *

><p><em>Camille sat against the cool table, obviously set in some kind of warehouse. She had been moving around from place to place, oil drums filled with oil for helicopters seemed to line the walls of the room. Camille was being monitored through an IV and there were doctors all around them. She had already freaked out when the first needle poked through her skin for the IV, and it had gotten worse when they started to move the needle for optimal efficiency. <em>

_She freaked out when they started to surround her, freaked out when they started to grab her arms and legs. She heard one of them say to keep her stable, but she was unable to think very hard. She screamed, and the sound of something bursting filled the room. _

_Oil and gasoline seemed to come to life, moving around the room like it was alive. It splattered against the doctors, making them flee. One tendril seemed to reach forward, lift a scientist around the neck, and throw him against the thick steel wall. Waves of sludge and waste seemed to splash all around her, making a pathway straight for the door. _

_She scampered up, not sure of what was happening. She ran for the nearest door, waving her arms around behind her. When one of the oil drums hit the steel floor of the warehouse, one single spark went off and the entire room exploded outwards in a fiery ball of death._

* * *

><p>"I was only eight years old then, and they got what was coming to them. I freaked out, my powers manifested, and I killed them all," explained Camille, her face full of guilt. "I was too young to understand it then, but looking back now, I've never felt worse. I've pushed my feelings down and I've tried to act calm and sweet, but nothing has ever been the same. I don't know what to do."<p>

Archie had remained quiet through her recollection, and he didn't really know what to say. "You've been through a lot. I'm sorry you had to go through that. What happened afterwards though?"

"I'm a foster child too, Archie. I went to a wonderful family after that, and without them, I'd be downright insane. I'm staying with my foster dad right now, but I've been living with my foster aunt these past few months," explained Camille.

"Well, I'm glad. My parents weren't the best, and I haven't heard from my real parents since I got shafted into the foster system," explained Archie, his fists clenched together. "But Camille, whatever happened to HYDRA? Did they give up?"

She shrugged. "I have no idea, I'm just glad they have not bothered me anymore. Have you ever heard of it?"

He gulped. "Yeah, actually, one of my friends was a member at one time."

Her face went sour, and she was about to ask how that was, when he backed up defensively. "No, let me explain."

But before he could, a large girl with dark brown hair and a grimace on her face appeared around the corner. "Archie, come on. It's time!"

"Just a minute, Lily!" the boy said, before turning back to his sister. "You'll have to give me time later, okay? I'll catch you in the halls or something. See ya!"

And with that, he was gone. She couldn't even answer him, and he and the tall girl disappeared in the throng of people. She looked down at her silented cell phone and saw a text message from Rivera, asking where she was.

Camille headed back through the crowds and found the four teenagers, who appeared to be antsy. "Sorry!"

"Where were you? We were worried about you," Ava said honestly.

"I was talking with an old friend, who I didn't expect to run into," explained Camille, satisfied with that answer.

Suddenly, Ava was interrupted before she could speak, before signaling for the rest by pointing at the school. "Hey, we've got to run up to the school for a minute. Can you go and enjoy some rides until we get back?"

Camille stared in confusion as the four teens didn't really wait for a response.

* * *

><p>"Be on the lookout," the uniformed Ava said as they stalked towards the school. "Xavier said that their entire team was going to be involved."<p>

"Why do they bother?" asked Rivera, who had split into three to scout for their whereabouts. "I mean, they are just going to get caught."

"They really don't have much chance to succeed," Grant said honestly, peeking around corners with his stretchy neck and head.

"No, not really," agreed Kris, sparks dancing around his gloved fingers.

Just then, as they were passing the office, a slight dance of blue light alerted them of their presence.

"In there, that has to be Spice's fire," explained Ava. "Move!"

They shot open the door and startled Astoria. She was alone, surprisingly. Out of all of them, they didn't expect Astoria to be the vault robber. She twisted in air as she pried open the vault, but was clobbered by one of Grant's wide fists and thrown against the wall.

"What did your mom say about hitting girls?" she asked.

"Doesn't apply to criminals," he said matter-of-factly.

But without warning, the beastly form of Belle tackled into Ava from behind, throwing the weather-manipulator against the front desk.

Grant twisted in to try to help, but as he did, a red beam of energy collided with his shoulder. It stopped him long enough for Archie to reform from a puddle on the floor and grab the money out of the vault.

The five Brotherhood ran down the hall, with Matrix throwing speed-bump projectiles to stop Rivera and her clones from pursuing.

"Everyone okay?" asked Kris, who hated feeling helpless.

Ava stood, rubbing her head. "Come on, let's get moving after them!"

The four teens and two clones renewed their efforts and bounded after them in the halls, but by the time they reached them, the Brotherhood had already fled the school and were heading across the empty front lawn.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe that we made it out of there," Tristan said, eyeing the brown bag in Archie's arms.<p>

"Me neither. We actually got away!" Astoria cried.

"Yeah, well, we're not out of the woods yet. Those X-Geeks are bound to go after us."

"Archie?" asked a voice.

The Brotherhood turned to see a blond seventeen-year-old standing in front of them, blocking their path.

"Who's this?" they asked as they stopped for only a brief amount of time.

Archie looked from the money to the girl and back to the money. "I have no idea."

His sister wasn't stupid. "You're stealing the money from the vault, aren't you? You used your powers for it, didn't you?"

For a long time, the others watched Archie and his sister stare each other down. Finally, he said, "Keep moving. I'll mow her down myself!" He tossed the bag to Astoria, but the group of four didn't move, for they wanted to see this.

* * *

><p>Camille wasn't prepared to hear that, and when the water from the wet lawn seemed to raise off the ground and combine into one cohesive wave, she stared wide-eyed at it. After one split-second, she raised her arms and the dirt from the muddy lawn sprang to life and pushed her up onto a solid block, and the water crashed around the pillar she was standing on as though she were an island around a raging whirlpool.<p>

Camille tried to focus on the mud on the ground, and soon enough, clods of dirt began to slam against the watery-teenager, and only the first few actually hit him before he started to turn into his water form and they passed harmlessly through holes in his body, holes that reformed as soon as the threat was over.

"You can't hit me," he said."I'm as liquid as the water around you. But I have a feeling that you are a solid."

Water crashed over the top and threw her off of it, and she braced herself. The solid earth around her suddenly became like soft mud, and she slid as though it were a mudslide. The impact was still felt, but not as badly as it could have been.

Suddenly, a bolt of purple lightning struck the watery teen, and she almost cried out for him, but then remembered what he was about to do. How he had treated her like she didn't exist.

He screamed and his body fell apart, and the other Brotherhood members started to make a break for it. Somehow, something golden snaked forward very fast and grabbed the bag out of Astoria's hands, but they continued running. Running back to the Brotherhood of Bayville House.

Camille's head was spinning. When someone approached her, she blacked out with the sound of her faint name.

* * *

><p>She awoke in a soft bed, staring at a warm, comfortable ceiling. The sun was shining in the window, and she groggily wiped her eyes.<p>

When she opened them, she screamed. "Oh!" A sleeping tiger was laying its head on her lap, staring at her face to face. When she screamed, the tiger suddenly shifted into the form of a very tired girl with auburn colored hair.

"Hi, I'm Jacquelyn, although you can call me Jackie. Or Tigress," she explained with a thin French accent. "You must be my French buddy, Camille!"

The girl spoke as quickly as her rapidly beating heart. "How did you do that?" asked Camille.

"Oh, the tiger thing? Sorry to wake you up like that. Whenever I sleep, I turn into my tiger form naturally," she explained matter-of-factly. She was definitely giving off an annoying little sister vibe.

"Well, why'd you sleep there then? You nearly gave me a heart-attack!"

"When I heard that you were from France too, I just had to wake up with you! We're going to be the best of friends!"

At that moment, a bald man in a wheelchair rolled into the room, followed by Rivera. "Why, hello. I'm so glad to see that you've awoken, Camille. We've been worried about you ever since they brought you here."

"Where am I? Why is there a tiger-girl in my bed? What happened?"

"One question at a time. My name is Charles Xavier, and this is my school where mutants go to learn to control your powers. You blacked out last night when you overused your powers, after not using them extensively for a long period of time," explained the man. "We're mutants, Camille. Just like you. Those children who choose to hang around with Archie are also mutants, and they often get into a lot of mischief."

"But why am I here?"

Rivera stepped forward. "I brought you here with me and my friends because I knew that Xavier was an expert on the sort of exhaustion that you went through, and to offer you a place here. You wouldn't be very far from your dad's house, and you could learn to control your powers on top of it all. It's really helped me grow to learn my own, and I think it would be fun to help you learn yours."

"Yes," Xavier began. "It is as she said. We'd love for you to join us here at the Institute. We could help you learn control so that you may be able to help those who are less fortunate with your powers."

She thought of the first time that she had ever used her powers, and almost immediately, Xavier frowned. She didn't make the connection until later that he had been reading her mind, but the idea of helping people and not causing them harm with them sounded… so much better than not knowing what she was doing and hurting people.

"I guess that it would be very nearby my foster dad, and it would be fun to live with you guys," she said with a sweet smile on her face. "Sure, why not? I'll go and let my father know my intentions."

As she got up from bed, the Professor smiled at her. "Welcome to the Institute."

* * *

><p><strong>Yep, here's Dean's replacement, which I "lamp-shaded" in the chapter somewhere. If you know which line I'm referring to, or even what "lamp-shaded" means, please let me know in a review. I'd love to hear what you have to say on the matter. <strong>

**Please read and review! I should have the next chapter by next Friday, and then a lot more since it's Christmas Break soon after. **

**Thanks to Charmander Hero for Camille!**

**(This was probably a weak theme for the chapter title, since there wasn't a lot of Boom, but I hope it fit well enough. :) **


	23. Power Surge: Power Sponge

_**Power Surge:  
>Power Sponge<strong>_

"_Kai, we do not want you to succeed," said a stern, almost unyielding voice. Kris wondered where the voice had come from, in the darkness of his view. "We do not want you to stay with us. We want you to live in the mansion with the others of your… kind. We do not want you to be happy with us."_

_Kris wondered why the voice wasn't making much sense, and before he knew it, the faces of his mother and father appeared, as though floating through a hazy mist. _

_His mother seemed to pass along the feeling of shunning Kris, her face quick to not care. "No, we don't want you to excel. We don't want you to get good grades, to graduate with honors from a university, or to be anywhere near right. We want you to choose to be wrong and happy."_

_Without even knowing it, he started to cry, but as he tried to open his voice, he was unable to rebuke them. Since when did his parents not care about his success? Kris thought that his father had wanted him to go to Xavier's to be safe and to be free, but maybe he read too far into it. Maybe he didn't read far enough. Maybe his father really didn't want him to be successful. _

_As soon as the tear hit the ground, the image shifted and he found himself standing in a room overlooking the outside. A giant sign in the shape of a letter was posted in the yard, with the words, "Xavier's Institute for Gifted Children," scrawled across it with heavy print. His father and mother were standing across from it, and he was startled to see himself standing behind at them. _

"_But, Dad, can't I go?" And it was even weirder to hear himself talk._

"_No," his father said. "You are normal. What happened at the pool was a fluke, a freak accident of nature."_

_Kris watched as the other Kris raised his hands and began emitting orange sparks of energy. "No, Dad, look! I'm doing it again! This place will be good for me."_

_His mother turned and shook her head. "It doesn't fit the plan, Kai Tanaka. It just doesn't fit the plan, and you know it."_

_The other Kris stamped his foot. "You mean the plan that was drawn up before I was even starting school? I don't have to be your little puppet. Dad, Mom, you can't live through me anymore!"_

_His dad did not like the change in tone. "You will not speak to me like that, young man. Kai Tanaka, go to your room."_

_The other Kris turned away from his parents and pouted. "It's Kris, Dad. How many times do I have to tell you?"_

_Kris 2.0 walked past and up the stairs, bounding two steps at a time. Kris 1.0 watched his father pace about the room, saying something about "Americanization."_

_The room suddenly shifted, and Kris 1.0 found himself watching his twin run from his long time bully chasing after him, trying to seek revenge after the pool incident that awakened his powers. _

_He watched himself get beaten and bruised, and thrown to the ground with a cloud of leaves jumping up as he fell. Kris 2.0 was about to be hit with the final blow before-_

* * *

><p>Kris awoke with a pant, his eyes unfocused and spinning. He rubbed his head with his hands before opening his eyes, orange sparks flying all around his bed.<p>

Grant groggily awoke, and was about to go back to sleep when he realized that something was horribly wrong with his roommate.

"I can't… stop… it!" he shouted, trying to contain the energy. He focused on the most calming thoughts he could- an image of his mother's smile- but they continued to flow from his hands as though he were a broken sprinkler.

Grant got up to his feet and was about to rush over, but Kris shook his head.

"No, don't… touch me!"

The Japanese boy was right, for they didn't know what could happen if he accidently augmented someone in this state.

"Okay, how do I stop this?" the gold-skinned boy asked, racking his brain for answers. "Try to calm yourself down while I think."

"Already… am! Hurry!"

"Sparks are like electricity, which means they are highly conductive," he muttered. After a moment, his mind seemed to ding with an idea. "Rubber!"

Without warning, the boy stretched his whole body through the door, half running and half stretching, almost as though he were made of the material that he was searching for.

Kris tried to calm his body down and think good thoughts, but nothing about that dream had been good. He wanted to face it, to understand it, but he couldn't with the drain of the sparks on his internal energy reserves. It was causing him enough physical pain to not allow him to think very hard.

What seemed like hours later, Grant returned with a pair of rubber gloves. But before he even had a chance to put them on, Kris felt his energy stop flowing. The sparks halted, and he gasped in relief.

"I'm all right now," he muttered, his body layered with sweat. "I think it was just a bad dream."

"Hmm, so you think the disruptions in your powers were caused by the dream? It's possible, considering the cold sweat," Grant half-stated to Kris, half-muttered to himself, as though he was thinking it over. "Since sweat is mostly water, it's possible that your energy projections caused some sort of intravenous hydrolysis."

"In English please?"

Grant smiled. "Remember in Pokémon, how electric beats water? Well, that might have happened to you, inside your blood vessels as well as on your skin."

Kris laughed. "Oh, okay! Put it in my terms, and I can understand! Now, I'm going back to bed. I'll talk to you in the morning."

The boy rolled over, ready to get some sleep. But after a moment of silence, he turned back over to see Grant offering him the gloves.

"I know that you might not need them now, but please put them on," he explained. "It could prevent some problems in the future."

Kris sighed before smirking. "All right, I guess you're right. I've got to learn to listen to the smart kid more often." The Japanese boy yanked on the yellow rubber gloves, feeling almost like a duck as he fell asleep.

Grant walked back over to his bed, wondering if there was a way to solve Kris's problems if they became long-term.

* * *

><p>"Our girls had a winning swim season!" the principal declared over the podium, gesturing to the trophies stacked behind him. "They raced like a team! They played like a team! And they respected each other as teammates! And it's those teammates who unanimously voted their choice for the Most Valuable Player Award to Maya Smith!"<p>

Rivera, her mouth agape with shock, looked to the clones sitting on either side of her. _Dang, I should have made sure that I swam a little better than them!_

The responding clone, Maya, who was only distinguishable by the long ponytail as opposed to the straight-haired Rivera and the curly-haired Chayce, stood up and walked to the stage, acting astounded and surprised as the audience cheered for her.

Rivera commanded mentally, _I know you can't say anything, so play sick! Pretend to throw up so you won't have to speak!_

Maya gave her a silent nod, as she walked forward to accept the award. As soon as the trophy hit her hand, she doubled over and heaved, before looking up at Kelly with a pleading look.

"Well, I was hoping for Maya to make a speech, but she is not feeling well," explained Kelly, a little confused as Maya ran toward the bathroom. "Everyone head to your next period class."

Maya came back into Rivera's mind, _You owe me so big. Eat a big meal tonight._

Rivera nodded as she got up and made her way to where Maya was, so she could collect her trophy.

* * *

><p>"Did you hear? Maya won the MVP award! It's the only thing anyone can talk about all day," explained Camille, sitting next to Ava at lunch.<p>

"Yeah, I heard," answered Ava with a small smile as she took a bite of her food.

"Is something wrong? I know I haven't been with you guys for long, but you seem like something is bugging you," Camille tried, her French accent still slightly thick.

She frowned concernedly. "Something is up with Kris, but I didn't have time to ask him before school earlier. I heard him and Xavier talking, but I didn't catch any details."

"Oh? What do you think it was about?"

Ava shrugged. "No idea, but he's not the type to go to anyone for help unless it's something serious. He's pretty stubborn like that."

Camille considered it a moment. "I can see that, but I think he'll get the help he needs from someone." She paused to take a bite before continuing. "How long do you think it will be before I can join you guys in the DR sessions? I love the New Mutants and all, but the oldest one is three years younger than me."

She shrugged. "I don't know, but considering your age, maybe not long. He's trying to ease you into the Institute, and the kids are working on the beginner exercises that the rest of us have passed. Just do well on everything, and you will be okay."

Just then, a familiar skinny black haired boy walked by, and stared directly at Ava, before cocking a smile and moving on. Camille looked between the two of them, and then back at Ava. "Who's that? He looks familiar."

"That's Tristan," explained Ava, trying not to make eye contact from this far away. "He's the leader of those Brotherhood losers that we encountered the night you got here."

"You mean that he's with Archie?" Camille asked, and as she looked over, it was clear: Tristan was sitting with the other Brotherhood members, who were trying to make their presence known to the rest of the world by being obnoxiously loud. She wondered: was he the one connected with HYDRA, like Archie had mentioned?

The amaranth-haired girl nodded. "Yeah, he's with Archie. You should stay away from him, because he's pretty much bad news."

"Archie or Tristan?"

"Both."

Camille frowned. She knew that Archie could be dangerous, as he had proved the other night when he attacked her, but she refused to believe that he was bad. He had good intentions for what he did, she just knew it. Camille wanted to remember her younger brother for being kind and compassionate. Not for being a thug.

Just then, Alex plopped down on the table with Rivera, almost at the same time. "Both Kris and Grant went home. Do you guys think something has happened?" asked Rivera.

"It's not like Grant to _want_ to skip school, much less actually doing it," added Alex. "Should we call home?"

Ava whipped out her phone and dialed the number. After a few rings, someone answered. "Xavier Institute, this is Dr. Watahari speaking. How may I help you?"

"Keiko, it's me, Ava," the girl said. "Both Grant and Kris aren't at school, and we were wondering what was going on. Are they at home?"

After a few moments, Keiko answered, "Yes, they are. But it's nothing for you to worry about. Enjoy the rest of the day, and we'll see you when you get back. Good bye."

Ava ended the call and shrugged. "I guess they are okay, I just wish that she hadn't been so vague."

"Me too," Camille added. Just then, the bell rang, ending their lunch period. Camille looked at her schedule briefly and said, "Well, looks like I've got the new chemistry teacher, Dr. McCoy. Wish me luck."

And with that, they split apart. Alex peered over at Ava, who was fighting not to look at Tristan. The thug was looking at her like a piece of meat from across the room.

"So are you going to Duncan Matthews's party tonight?" asked Ava, trying to break the tension that she had noticed was building. "I think it will be pretty lame, but I might go."

Alex frowned. "I don't think I was invited, and I thought Duncan and I were on good terms."

She smiled. "I really don't think that it matters who's invited. It's just a party, you know? Like he really knows who's going to be there."

"Yeah, you do have a point. I'll go with you then," Alex said, smiling.

"All right, I guess that will work," she answered. "See you later."

Alex had not been paying much attention to what she said after the word 'guess.' She 'guesses' that going with him will work?

* * *

><p>Keiko walked out of the elevator as it opened and headed down the hall, where Logan, Storm, and all the rest were waiting. Kris was strapped to a complicated machine that Grant and the professor had been working on, and it wasn't her field of expertise so she had no idea what it was supposed to do.<p>

Rubber gloves were firmly sealed on Kris hands, and every once in a while, an orange spark would hit the ground around his arms. Everyone was watching with anticipation as Grant twisted his way around the room without ever leaving one spot, so that it looked like a golden snake was maneuvering about the room.

"Are we nearly ready, Aurum?" asked Ororo with a firm but concerned mothering look.

"Almost," he said, weaving underneath his own torso to twist a bolt in the machine underneath Kris's foot. "There. Now, before we activate the machine, we all have to leave the room. The power is being boosted by Kris's sparks, and if we are in the room, we could be affected in an extremely negative way. Is everyone okay with that?"

They all nodded, although Logan figured he'd be all right regardless. Grant seemed to notice that and raised an eyebrow. "Trust me, you don't want to screw with something like this. All we're trying to do is discharge some of the excess energy he's built up through the machine, and since he's not affected by his own sparks, he's the only one able to be present."

After he was sure everything was okay with everyone else, he turned to Kris, a look of discomfort on his face. "Are you all right?"

Kris shook his head. "I feel like I've been drained for the past few hours, ever since I got to school this morning. I don't know how much energy I have left."

The malleable mutant retracted to his original position near the door and smiled enthusiastically. "I promise you, this will be okay. Just trust me, I haven't slept in twenty-four hours for you."

As Grant walked towards the door, Kris rolled his eyes. "Somehow, that doesn't make me feel any better." Grant just grinned as he closed the door behind him.

"All right, are you ready? This might sting for a moment, but you will feel fine as soon as it's over. I promise," explained Aurum through an intercom. As Kris nodded, the others watched Grant twist several knobs and press a few buttons. As the final switch came on, there was a whirring noise, and the machine started.

Kris groaned, orange sparks immediately being sucked through his body and into the machine, where he was used as power for said machine. It was as though his body had become a giant conduit for kinetic energy, which was turning into pure electricity as it hit the small batteries inside the device. Energy poured out and into the ground.

After a moment, the boy stopped groaning and just accepted it, power being taken from him slowly but surely. In several long moments, orange light filled the air around him, but the Japanese boy showed no signs of discomfort. In fact, he seemed to be gaining color.

But there was a satisfying crunch, and they all watched in horror as the machine shuddered under his power. Orange energy freely flowed through the room, bouncing off the walls and into Kris's absorbant body once more.

"Shut it off!" Storm, Wolverine, Origami, and Professor X yelled at the same time. Grant pressed a button, but the command misfired and even more energy flowed into Kris, making him scream in agony.

Logan stepped forward, his claws slicing into the air with a satisfying sound. "All right, that's enough. I'm taking care of this, bub!"

As the Canadian was going to go into the room, Ororo grabbed his arm. "No, you can't. He'll supercharge you, and we don't know what will happen."

Before Logan could argue, Grant suddenly pulled another switch and the machine whirred to a stop, and the energy flow within the room slowly stopped, even around Kris's hands.

They stepped into the room tentatively as Kris yanked himself out of the machine, breathing sighs of relief. "I'm okay. I'm better than okay, actually. I don't think I've ever been better!"

None of them were that easy to convince. "Keiko, will you check his vitals in the lab? I want to check to make sure that it worked."

Grant shook his head, his whole body seeming sluggish. "No, it didn't work. That much I can tell you right now," he explained. "Professor, usually Sparkplug isn't affected by his own abilities. I believe the increased conductivity of the sparks after they had been wired through the machine progressed them, changed them. He wasn't immune when the device backfired on him."

Kris looked at them blankly, but he didn't seem concerned. "What does that mean?"

"You've supercharged yourself, Kris," explained Grant. "At least, that's what I think."

No one really knew how to take that information. The professor watched him with a concerned look, trying to decipher the problem.

"Is that bad?" asked Kris, lifting his arm and making a fist. "I feel strong. Stronger than ever before."

"I don't think it's going to be good for you," said Keiko. "We should isolate you while we figure out what is happening to him. What if he supercharged one of us by mistake?"

They each agreed, and despite his pleas, Kris was placed in the medical bay under extreme supervision, while they tried to ensure that he was actually doing okay.

* * *

><p>Camille strode up to the car, trying not to sniff. Ava was sitting in the driver seat of the teal gray convertible, and Rivera was in the passenger seat. They watched Alex drive by on his motorcycle, weaving through the traffic expertly.<p>

Her mind was on the recent lab in Dr. McCoy's that she didn't notice that she smelled horrible. As soon as she approached the car, both girls suddenly clamped their noses shut.

"Ah! What in the world is that?" exclaimed Ava, tempted to just drive off without her.

"Stink bomb," Camille mumbled. "At least, I think that's what you Americans call them. The new chemistry teacher wanted to leave a good impression."

"Well, if we were just meeting you, that smell would not be a good first impression," Rivera said, opening the door to let her into the back. "Ava, pull the top down and blast the AC. We need to air her out!"

Soon enough, they arrived at the Institute, and Ava dropped both of them off. "Get out, please," she said. "I've got to go into town to buy stuff for Duncan's party. Alex is supposed to be meeting me at the mall. Will one of you call me and let me know what is going on with Grant and Kris?"

The two girls nodded and left the car, and with a wave, she drove off. Camille turned around, about to say something to Rivera, but the black-haired girl had rushed off with her nose plugged, shouting, "Get a shower!"

The French girl shook her head and headed into the Institute, trying to keep her distance from everyone.

* * *

><p>The party was bustling at Duncan's house, and it was obvious that the kid was loaded. It was a very modern house, but it was probably second-only to Xavier's own mansion. Ava and Alex drove up in her car, and as soon as the red solo cups were passed around, they immediately broke into song but refused a drink.<p>

"Some party, huh?" she asked, looking at Alex.

The boy was doing something odd with his fingers, almost like air-guitar. She raised an eyebrow, but when he noticed that she was onto him, he pointed up. "The music of the party had me in an air-guitar kind of mood," he answered quickly, and he sighed with relief when she bought it.

"Let's dance. Have some fun," she said with a smile. "Or I'll find another boy to hang with."

He immediately took her, not wanting anyone else to get the chance. But that was before he realized that he was awkward with girls, and he released her just a bit so that it wasn't so bad. In only thirty seconds of dancing, Alex had already stepped on her foot twice, but she pretended not to notice; after all, she had dealt with worse kinds of pain in the Danger Room.

"This is fun," she said, smiling and looking into his eyes. "I'm glad we can do stuff like this."

"This isn't fun," he said bluntly, making her look at him with confusion. "No, not like that! This part is fun! I just don't like stepping all over your toes."

_Translation: I don't like to see you get hurt._

She smiled. "Don't worry, I'm a big girl."

_Translation: You'll never hurt me. _

Suddenly, someone tapped her on the shoulder, shocking both of them. "Can I have a dance?"

They turned to see Tristan grinning, his almost too perfect teeth in great contrast with his medium length dark hair. He was holding a cup of what smelled like beer, but it wasn't hard on his breath.

Ava glanced at Alex to see his reaction, but he gently stepped away. "No, go ahead."

Tristan took her by the hand and a slow song began to play, and Alex grimaced with jealousy. Immediately, lyrics and song notes seemed to pop into his head, and he wondered if that's what happened with real musicians when something emotional happened to them. He wished that he had his guitar so he could take advantage of the sudden inspiration.

* * *

><p>Later that night, when Kris was just about to drive himself insane from walking, he had a sudden urge to stand up from the bed and punch the wall. Ooh, maybe he <em>was<em> insane.

As soon as his foot hit the ground, he felt a sudden rush of power the instant his weight shifted to the floor, and at each footstep and at each motion, energy seemed to flow into his body. He leaned back and punched with all of his might, and as his fist smacked against the wall, instead of pain, power seemed to rush into him and his hand glowed with an orange aura.

Likening the feeling to what happened when Alex or Ava hit him with an energy attack, he raised his left hand and concentrated, blasting the force of his footsteps and of his punch to the wall with concussive power. An orange blast of energy hit the door, charring it slightly and slamming it shut.

"What's going on?" he asked, clenching his fist and slamming the wall again, generating more energy in his body. "Whatever it is, I like it."

He started walking through the halls, stomping his feet against the ground in order to generate more energy. He felt the power flow through his whole body, and soon enough, there was a constant orange aura around him, like a shining beacon of raw, untamed energy.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe you danced with him," Alex muttered as they pulled into the drive. They hadn't said anything the whole drive home, and they weren't paying attention to the driveway.<p>

"Look, I told you already, it was just a dance," she said. "I'm a girl who likes to dance. What's wrong with that?"

Just as he was going to answer, the two of them turned just in time to hear the thunk of something glowing orange hit the car, but it did not move.

"What?" asked Ava, shocked that the car going about thirty miles an hour stopped suddenly, without recoil at all.

"Is that Kris?" asked Alex. "What's going on? I know they said something weird was happening, but this?"

They both got out of the car and approached him, but he didn't respond. His eyes were glowing bright orange, like some kind of candle. His body was covered in an aura of raw energy, and it only seemed to intensify the longer he stood there.

"He… sucked out the kinetic energy of the car," Alex muttered, thinking of how Grant had worded the explanation to his powers. "But I thought that only worked with energy attacks on Kris? Since when does it involve physical stuff?"

Before she could answer, Kris backhanded the car and it rolled several feet away. Ava would have been angry, but the idea that she could just ask her parents for another one through blackmail made her feel slightly better about it.

"Kris, how'd you do that? Why are you messing with my car?"

He didn't answer, and with a wave of his hand, a wide arc of orange light erupted from him and towards Ava. Green energy blasted through it suddenly, and Alex shot to her side.

"What are you doing? Why are you fighting us? We're you friends!" he asked, but with a flick of his hand, a bolt of orange energy flew outward and hit Alex with enough force to break several ribs and fling him into the nearest tree. He collapsed to the ground, his healing factor impairing him as he started to glow with green energy over the wounds.

Ava was pissed by now. Her eyes began to glow with amaranth energy, and she fired a gust of wind and a lightning bolt as she backtracked away from him. Kris merely stood there and took the energy into himself, even the bolt of lightning. Sparkplug snapped his fingers and an aura of destructive energy, cackling like lightning, radiated out from him and ripped through the ground, grass, and gravel.

Tempest dashed backwards, taking a stand by Alex and trying to throw bolts of lightning in the way of the aura, but as soon as the amaranth met topaz, all the energy travelled towards Kris's body like a sponge.

"Damn," she muttered, afraid for the first time. Something was seriously wrong with him. How had he become so powerful?

The answer soon appeared, as Rivera, Grant, Camille, and the faculty ran towards them. Storm flew forward and tried to bat him away with winds, but Kris was immovable as all the energy in the air particles hitting him was drained away as soon as it approached.

"He's supercharged himself," Grant explained. "He will continually do that until his body cannot take the energy any more, exponentially. We can't figure out how to stop him."

"And he's draining away the potential and kinetic energy of any object in the area. Soon enough, he'll become immune to the laws of physics or he'll explode in an explosion reminiscent of a supernova," explained Xavier.

Ava watched Kris mindlessly stand there, expanding outwards his power slowly but surely. "How long has he been like this?"

"A few minutes, as far as we can tell," Logan answered. "He walked out of the medical bay only a few minutes ago."

"And he's that powerful already?" asked Alex. "He just absorbed the impact of the car, and now he's going wild."

"Like I said, exponentially," said Grant. "As he continually supercharges himself, he takes in lots of energy, and then the process repeats. I'm surprised he's even _existed_ for this long."

"What do we do?"

No one had any ideas, so Wolverine stepped forward, holding up this three adamantium claws on his right hand. "My body can take anything he can dish out."

"He's stop you before you could get close," explained Grant. "Any kinetic or potential energy within that radius is gone, and it's going to keep getting bigger and bigger. You'd stop and be unable to move, as he reduced you to less than a statue."

He frowned. "I hate physics."

"What about your telepathy, Xavier?" said Camille suddenly.

Everyone stopped to look at her, and she was so self-conscious that she immediately doubted herself. "Sorry, stupid idea, I know."

"You're a genius, Camille!" Rivera exclaimed.

"Well, Muddy, it just might work. Charles, would this work on him? We can't reach him any other way. Maybe there's some merit to the idea," praised Wolverine. "It works on your brother, right?"

"It certainly constitutes a shot," Xavier said, putting his hands together to his temples. "I was so distracted by the idea that he was in trouble that I didn't think of it."

Xavier gently applied concentration, and immediately entered Kris's mind, without any resistance.

* * *

><p>Xavier watched as the dreams that Kris had been having repeated themselves. <em>This must be the key to whatever is happening,<em> he thought. _His mind took me there after all. _

He saw Kris's parents tell him that they didn't want him to succeed. That they didn't want him to be anything, and that's why he was sent to Xavier's. Immediately, the telepath saw an opening and took it.

Kris turned to see Xavier's form in front of him, and all other images died out. "What are you doing here? I want to make my parents proud! You aren't welcome! If I go with you, I'll defeat any chance of being happy!"

Applying a gentle focus, Xavier made an image of Kris's parents appear in front of Kris. "That isn't true, Kai. We sent you to Xavier's so that your mutant powers couldn't hold you back! We sent you there so you could be safe! So you could learn and grow and change!" the two said together. "Forget what we said before. This is what we want: we want you to get the best possible learning experience, and if you can't learn about a part of yourself, what's the point? Work hard to open up that part of your life that we could never take away, the part that we can only dream to have. You can do so many, many things, Kai. You make us so proud in each and every day, son. Never forget that."

Without warning, he felt the dream space disappearing.

* * *

><p>Immediately, Kris's eyes faded to their normal color, but the energy was still flowing through his veins. He raised both hands and pointed them to the sky, and without warning, and massive beam of orange light shot out, more powerful than anything they had ever seen before. The ground literally rumbled and cracked underneath him, as the recoil tried to overtake him.<p>

As the beam dissipated, the boy suddenly dropped to the ground, unconscious.

* * *

><p>Kris awoke with an intense headache, and he rubbed his face to get used to the light and to ease the throbbing.<p>

Xavier was sitting next to him in the chair, watching him awaken. "Hi, Kris. How are you feeling?"

"Okay, I guess," he lied, but felt bad immediately after it. "I could use some ibuprofen though."

"All right, we'll get you some," said Xavier. "But first, someone here wants to see you. I thought it appropriate."

And with that, Xavier left the room, and as soon as his chair passed the threshold, two people walked in. Two people he had least expected to see.

"Oto-san! Oka-san!" His mother and father walked over and hugged him hard, one on either side of him. "I'm so glad to see you!"

"So are we," his mother said. "We came as soon as the professor called us. Booked the first flight here."

"Musuko, how could you think we weren't proud of you? How could you think that we didn't want what was best for you?" asked his father.

"I don't know. I guess I imagined up some of those feelings because I thought you didn't like the fact that I was a mutant. I thought you hated me," he muttered.

They embraced him once more, his mother crying soft tears. He was so happy to see them.

* * *

><p>"I'm glad that he got to see them," Ava said happily from the couch. The others were all sitting around him, and Xavier was rolling in from the other room. Kris was sound asleep in the medical bay, and no one wanted to disturb him.<p>

"Me too," Rivera said. "You say that the reason why his powers went ballistic in the first place was because he was having that nightmare about his parents?"

Xavier and Grant both nodded at the same moment. "Yes, that's what I noticed within his mind. He had a physical manifestation of his angst that caused uncontrollable sparks, which overloaded the machine and in turn overloaded him, causing what you saw here the other day," explained Xavier.

"So the whole physical kinetic energy thing," asked Alex. "Is that permanent? Because it was totally cool when he stopped the car just by standing in front of it."

"No, that came from the supercharging of his powers," explained Grant. "Now that he's been mentally repaired, his augmentation has been reversed. He should be back to normal now."

"Good," Alex said. "I don't think I could deal with another extremely powerful mutant like Juggernaut."

They all nodded, thinking of bad memories.

"Well, how was the party?" asked Rivera. "You never did get to tell us about it."

Ava and Alex took one glance at each other and said automatically, "Nothing!"

Everyone laughed.

* * *

><p><strong>How'd you like it? Good? Bad? I wish I could have extended the Super-Saiyan Kris scene out, but it was getting to be that he was TOO ridiculously powerful for them to even fight, without making him stronger in return. <strong>

**Anyways, hopefully I'll have the next chapter in a few days. I hope I can get regular updates again. :D**


	24. Fun and Games: Monitoring the Mutants

**I'm going to start posting every Wednesday. I'm already two-weeks ahead of schedule, and I'll have lots of time to write over the Christmas holidays (because I've come to the conclusion that I have no life), and I should have no trouble keeping that schedule into the New Year! :D**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Fun and Games:<strong>_  
><em><strong>Monitoring the Mutants<strong>_

While the mansion was in deep slumber, the senior students were awoken with a soft nudging from someone's mind. "Students, I must ask you to gather downstairs immediately," Xavier's voice beckoned.

After a short period, they were all gathered with so much sleep on their eyes that they didn't bother replying. Alex stretched silently, Grant rubbed sleep out of his golden eyes, and Kris was trying not to touch anyone as he tried to push himself awake and to control the sparks that seemed to slowly be emitted. Rivera looked more awake than the others, and Ava was fighting not to remain asleep standing up.

The elevator door suddenly opened to reveal Xavier rolling forward. "I apologize for the late hour, but I've just received an urgent summons from Captain Stone."

They all looked on in momentary confusion, until Alex said, "Isn't he the one in charge of the prison?"

The other students seemed to immediately understand. "Juggernaut?" asked Rivera with a gasp.

"He's broken out again?" Kris wondered.

"Fortunately, not yet," Xavier replied, immediately relieving some of the tension. "But his containment unit is beginning to fail."

Ava took one look at her team and said, "Can we all get a shower first before we head out?"

Some of them giggled, and some were just too tired to worry about laughter. "You're kidding right?" asked Kris.

She took one good look at him and said with a wink, "Have you seen yourself in the mirror this morning?" Then she laughed at his reaction, and said, "Of course I was joking. Let's go suit up."

Alex grinned. "Better to fight in our uniforms than in pajamas."

"No, I'll be going out there alone," explained Xavier.

They stopped to consider it a moment. "Professor, at least send Origami. Remember what happened last time one of the faculty went somewhere alone? She was kidnapped by a bunch of mutates."

"Since my telepathy is our only real weapon against him, I'm more than capable," Xavier tried, but he took one look at their concerned faces and continued. "All right, that is duly noted. It's important that Keiko and I head there immediately, and with Storm away in Africa and Logan out on the open road somewhere, I'm leaving Ava and Alex in charge. Can I count on you?"

"Of course," Ava agreed with a smirk.

"Definitely," Alex added.

Kris rolled his eyes and laughed. "Professor, with those two in charge, we'll all end up being boy-crazy and obese by the end of your trip."

Ava frowned. "I'm not _that _boy-crazy!" They all looked at her with raised eyebrows. "I swear, I'm not!"

Alex shrugged. "You all probably _will_ be obese by the end though. Just get less than a third of what I put on my plate, and you'll be okay."

They snickered, and after a moment the Professor cleared his throat. "All right, that's enough. Wish me luck, and make sure everything runs smoothly on your end. Oh, and Rivera, make sure Camille is adjusting to the mansion and to her squad properly. She's only been here a few weeks, and I haven't had the time I would have liked to ask her about it."

The students all nodded, and Rivera smiled at the mention of the New Mutants member. "Will do, Professor. Now, go and be with your brother. We'll be okay here."

He nodded and entered the elevator, before it closed on them.

"Now, who's ready for the Danger Room?" asked Ava, stretching. But as she opened her eyes, they were all gone without a trace, with the sound of footsteps going up the stairs and doors closing abruptly. "I guess no one."

* * *

><p>Grant took his seat in the computer lab and produced the game disc, his mind cautious and alert. The room was empty, and he watched the door as he pressed the disc into the school's strongest, fastest computer.<p>

"Xavier won't let me analyze you," he muttered. "But what he doesn't know won't hurt him." He couldn't seem to understand the idiocy of the statement, since the man was a telepath and would eventually know, but Grant went on about his business.

His stretchy fingers were a flurry across the screen, his mind trying to program the complicated computer code. He needed to search for any irregularities, like the presence of the technopathic Monitor, the mutant who had been sealed within the game.

"There," he said, focusing on an error of the code. On a regular binary code system, everything is made of zeroes and ones. Where the technopath had been, there were several more digits that he knew shouldn't be there. At all.

He stuck in his jump drive and copied the files into the memory, hoping to understand more about him through the process. As soon as he was sure that he was done, he ejected the disc and placed it back in his case.

Grant turned and ran right into someone, the video game disc flying out of his hands. He sighed as he righted himself.

"Oh, hi," a British voice said. He looked down to see a girl with black and purple hair. She reached down and picked up her own case. "You were one of Dean's friends, weren't you?"

Grant nodded. "How did you know her?"

She smiled. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Risty, and Dean was my first friend at Bayville, after I got here from Manchester, England. And you are?"

"Grant Forsythe," he answered.

"Right, she mentioned you. Anyways, how is she doing?"

"She's doing all right, I think," explained Grant. "Rivera is usually the one who talks to her when she calls, but from what I hear, she's okay."

"Good," the girl said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to get some work done." She held up the disc. "Big project, you know."

He nodded, grabbing the other disc case off the floor and putting into his backpack without a second thought. "All right, I'll see you later."

"I'd like that," Risty said as he left the room. The girl looked down at the case in her hand and smiled, knowing that she got _exactly_ what she had wanted out of that.

* * *

><p>Alex was standing in the halls, waiting for Ava to meet up. He had musical notes swimming in his head, and the lyrics that he had tried to write the night before were running through his head, and he started to hum the basic sound.<p>

"Man, Duncan's party was a total bust," muttered someone as they walked by. It was a group of kids that he didn't even know. "I wish someone could have another one real fast, and that it would be a lot better than that one."

Thinking of the recent weeks, with Dean leaving and the drama with Kris's powers, Alex thought it would be nice for the group to have some fun. Immediately, he turned to them. "Party at the Xavier Institute. Tonight!"

The group of kids smiled, and within minutes, everyone would know. Their thumbs had never moved fast enough as they texted their contacts.

* * *

><p>"A party? Tonight?" asked Ava, a little angry that Alex had already committed them to it. It would be social suicide if they backed out now.<p>

"Yeah," answered Alex. "It'll give everyone a break, let everyone have some fun. You know this whole semester has been one drama filled episode after another. I mean, why not have some fun?"

She thought it over, seeing the happy, hope-filled faces of the others. "Ugh, fine," the weather manipulator relented. "But it's over at midnight, and we all have to work together to clean it up. It has to be done before six am the next morning, or I'll tell Xavier that it was your idea."

Alex nodded, and the others excitedly exclaimed, "Yay! Party!"

The leader shook her head, wondering if she had gotten in over her head.

* * *

><p>The party was gathering already, and all the Institute children, both senior and junior, were enjoying themselves. Dancing, laughing, drinking (non-alcoholic, of course) and just all around having a good time. The music was probably loud enough that anyone on Asteroid M could hear it.<p>

"Great party," a voice said, breaking Alex out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Risty, the girl who had been friends with Dean at one time.

He smiled, breaking away from a couple of kids on the football team. "Thanks. I think it's going well."

"So well that I've really got to go to the ladies' room," she said in that chipper British accent.

He pointed to a door down the hall. "It's the last one on the left, after the first turn. You can't miss it."

She thanked him, before heading down the hallway, putting on a good show.

As soon as she was out of the party area, Risty headed down the halls a little bit more deliberately, before she found what she was looking for. Making sure that no one was around to see her, she slipped into the small elevator and pressed the button to head down to the sublevels.

The girl smiled as she finally reached the right door, and paused before it. Taking in a deep breath, she suddenly shifted shape into the form of a familiar man in a wheelchair.

In Professor Xavier's form, she approached the door and placed her eye directly in front of a small scanner, and the door opened with a small sound. She morphed back into the form of Risty and walked up the stark metal staircase until she was in the control center, sitting above the Danger Room.

"Okay, let's test this thing," she said, taking a disc from her pocket and slipping it into the computer. For a split second, nothing happened. Finally, something started to happen.

The simulation started in the Danger Room, the holographic projections suddenly starting to fire up. In a burst of yellow light, a young man appeared on the metal floor, and he immediately stretched. He look royal, donned in black and gold armor with a sword at his waist and a crown on his head.

Mystique smiled, before pressing the intercom button. "Hello, Monitor."

"I would ask where I am, but since I'm slowly importing data from the computer, I am aware. I'm at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Children, a school for a mutant I once met in the game. Our powers seemed to conflict and the reaction yanked him in the game unaware," the man stretched his legs. "Besides all of that, I'm not really here, am I? I'm just a hologram, right?"

Mystique, still in the guise of Risty, shook her head. "Yes, you are still a hologram, but if you agree to help me, I will set you free."

"I could go free whenever I want," said the technopath. "I simply don't want to. My kingdom has prospered well under my rule, inside the game. I have everything I could ever ask for. I'm a god among men, able to bend reality for my very subjects, and create matter from nothing. I've created kingdoms and let them rule themselves, before crushing them under my iron hand."

"Yes, well, all of that sounds very promising," explained Mystique. "But what would happen if I broke the game that you are currently inside? Those files would become unreadable, and you'd probably cease to exist. You wouldn't want that, now would you?"

Monitor frowned, but it was all for show. He knew that his files had been saved onto a jump drive, and even if the original game was destroyed, he would continue on in those copies. He figured that he'd give her what she wanted.

"Okay. What do you want?"

"I need you to cause a diversion for me, something annoying enough to make sure all the X-Men stay upstairs. Can you do that?"

He considered it, before snapping his fingers. Just to prove the power of his control, the Danger Room suddenly burst into life, mechanisms, traps, and laser cannons coming under his control. "Yes, I can handle it. I know of just the thing."

"Good," she remarked, before heading back, and leaving the Danger Room running.

* * *

><p>Kris, Rivera, and Grant were standing near the punch bowl, trying to socialize with a group of people, when their watches suddenly started to beep. The X-Men froze, annoyed that something was going on.<p>

"What's happening?" asked Kris.

"I don't know, but we should head to the lower levels to make sure it's nothing major," added Rivera. Always the wise and sensible one.

"Could be anything, so let's keep alert," Grant added. The three of them sped toward the elevators, but passed Camille on the way.

"Hey, where're you going? The party's this way," she gestured. Kris didn't think about it, but she wouldn't have one of the watches since she wasn't technically a senior squad X-Man yet.

"We've gotta go check on something," explained Rivera. "But we'll be back up in a second. Just make sure you keep this place in line until we get back, okay?"

She nodded, confused. "Okay, but you're telling me what you are going to do when you get back."

They nodded. "I promise," added Grant.

* * *

><p>"Dang," Ava cried out, upset. "I can't get the door to open." She was trying the code, but the Danger Room door would not open at all.<p>

Alex stepped forward and charged up a green energy blast, but Grant pushed his arms down. "No, let me try this. I've never done it before, but let me try."

The others nodded and watched as Grant walked up to the crack in the door. After taking a deep breath, he suddenly pressed himself flat against the surface of the door, looking like a thick golden piece of paper. After only a second or two, his body started to be sucked in, right through the gap.

"That's so gross," Ava complained.

After about a half-minute, the door finally slid open to an entire forest scene. Upon further inspection, it looked as though they were sitting in a wood outside a grand castle, with black and gold flags and the sound of animal life. The castle was sitting on a carved off plateau that could have once been a mountain.

The uniformed teens sighed as the Danger Room door closed, sealing the five of them off in the holographic simulation.

* * *

><p>Mystique suddenly sat down at the machine, glad that she had been able to get this far. The long hallway that led up to Cerebro's door had been confusing, and passing through the door was where she thought she'd get the most trouble. Thankfully, that wasn't the case.<p>

She sat at the seat in front of the platform, and immediately transformed herself into that of Xavier. After a moment of hesitation, she placed the helmet atop her head and the machine whirred to life, accepting her, or should she say, 'his,' retinal scan.

"That's more like it," she said with Xavier's voice as the Cerebro computer opened itself up, and a menu like screen popped into place.

Within seconds, her fingers were flying through file after file, gathering information on every documented mutant she could find. She copied blueprints for some of the machines Xavier had lying down. Mystique copied the formula for the Legacy Cure, the virus that was supposed to be able to manufacture perfect mutant antibodies, able to fight cancerous mutations. When she had practically extracted all files, she burned them all to a disc and placed it into a pack. Just before she was about to stand up and take off the helmet, she saw a promising menu selection.

"Defcon Four, huh?" she read through its description and raised her eyebrows, but decided not to activate it. "Later, maybe."

And with her files in tow, she sat the helmet down and exited the large spherical room, keeping her disguise of Risty as soon as she shut the door.

* * *

><p>"Is this some kind of new simulation Logan has been wanting to try?" asked Rivera.<p>

"I don't recognize it either," added Alex.

Suddenly, Kris had a realization. "I do. I didn't think I'd see the day, but somehow, we're inside the game that I was trapped in that one time, remember?"

They were astounded, and Grant was unusually uneasy. "Do you think this has something to do with Monitor?"

"It's possible," explained Kris. "He was a pretty powerful technopath, but I locked that game disc away. I should have destroyed it, but Xavier wanted to keep it. I have no idea why though."

"Just when I thought things couldn't get weirder," Rivera sighed. "So we're inside the game now?"

"Yeah, I think so," Kris answered, before generating some sparks. "Or at least, in a simulation of it. This _is _the Danger Room, after all. I couldn't use my powers until the very end before, as though the game was interfering with them. I can do it now."

Just as he said that, there was a roar and several dark objects rolled out of the trees, like very large armadillos. Within moments, they were surrounded by a group of five spiky reptiles, with large tails and heavy armor. The area where they seemed to roll was melting away as though the spikes were dipped in lava.

"Crap," Kris exclaimed. "Spykes!"

Alex blasted one with a green blast from each fist, but it retracted like a roly-poly, its armor absorbing the energy to no affect. "Well, dang," he muttered.

It then suddenly whipped out and fired several spiky bones from the junctions in its plates, their ends also seemingly on fire.

A golden hand whipped out, expanding like a huge baseball glove. "I got it!" The spikes clashed against Aurum's huge hand, thankfully blocking them all with only a sting. But before anyone could launch a counter-attack, the remaining rolling reptiles charged at them like bowling balls aimed for pins.

Ava twisted quickly and fired several quick, weak bolts of electricity, amaranth in hue. They hit the creatures, but they were only momentarily swayed. The Spykes stopped and swung their huge tails at the girl, but just before they could hit, there was a white flash and two Echos were on either side of the armored tail, grabbing it and holding it in place.

"Tempest, Dynamo, hit me!" Kris said, and the two mutants turned and fired on their teammate. Within moments, the energy absorbing mutant fired blast after blast of mixed metabolic and electrical energy, all colored in orange.

The blasts hit the creatures, and despite their armor, the combined effort was enough to make the Spykes roll away.

"Whew, glad that's over," Rivera grimaced, recalling her sore clones with another white flash.

"We've got to keep moving," Kris said, pointing to the castle. "If Monitor has something to do with this, that's where he'll be."

* * *

><p>Monitor stared into space, his mind flexing on the computers seemingly all around him. It was as though his brain was some kind of network interface, and he was controlling every bit of it. And he loved to feel that powerful.<p>

His mind was not only powering the game and the Danger Room interface, which had practically merged into one, but he was also flipping through files on the Institute's main motherboards.

He flexed his control, and within moments, a computerized voice muttered, "Mansion's systems have been infiltrated. Defcon Four has activated."

Through the security footage, he watched the mansion suddenly go haywire, and huge steel plates covered every window and every outside door. The outer defenses activated, and the inner defenses started looking for anything that moved.

The technopath smiled, surprised that the party-goers were oblivious. Fools.

* * *

><p>Camille was taking a deep breath outside when she heard someone approach. She whipped around, feeling a little nervous, when her fellow teammates Reese and Haley suddenly appeared.<p>

"Camille, look!" Reese pointed, and they watched with horror as the mansion sealed itself off like a cocooned insect, unbeknownst to the party-goers.

"What's going on?" she asked, but neither of the younger students had an answer. "Okay, let's not panic. We'll just try to get inside."

As soon as they made a single movement towards the door, the three mutants were suddenly interrupted by the whirring of machines coming to life.

"Run! Around the back, now!" Reese said, creating a full body shield to wear on his left arm.

He activated the shield just in time, as a laser cannon suddenly erupted to life and fired a beam of blue light. Thankfully, he raised his arm and it bounced off, and a quick gesture from Haley made tree roots suddenly grab the cannon and crush it around the base, depowering it.

Camille followed, ready to use her powers at a moment's notice. A hooked gun suddenly appeared in front of them, but before it could fire, the girl focused on the oil inside the flamethrower, causing it to explode.

"Way to go, Mudslide!" Reese said, throwing a javelin made of energy at a flying saw launcher, destroying it just before it could shoot at them.

Once they had successfully rounded the house, the three of them realized that even the back of the house was covered in the same steel plating.

"Damn," he muttered, before suddenly realizing where they could get in, like a light-bulb went off in his head. "Oh! The hangar! We can get in through the hangar!"

The three followed to the edge of the cliff, knowing that the jet entrance was just below them. Reese prepared to repel down on a rope of purple energy when Haley focused and a long spiral shaped root suddenly jutted out of the top of the cliff.

"Come on, climb up. I'll make it move us down, just hang on!"

The three mutants attached themselves to the almost spiral staircase-like root, and with another moment of focus, it started to lower, cutting right through the cliff as though it was butter.

"Good job, Pollen!" Reese shouted, another of his usual encouragements. The huge hanger door was suddenly in front of them, and was thankfully not covered with another layer of plating. "My turn!"

He pressed his hand to the steel plating and focused. Purple light seemed to gather for just a moment, and they watched in awe as a huge purple crowbar appeared in the gap. "Pollen, Mudslide, do you think you can move that? I can create it, but I can't move it."

The two girls nodded. A sudden root shot out of the cliff-side, thick and powerful. It grabbed the huge lever, wrapped completely around it, and pulled with all its might.

Camille shoved her hands down, focusing on the wet, eroding rock that was being hit by wave after wave below them. After a severely long amount of focus, she gathered a ball of earth from all the wet rock and levitated it until it reached the rock. In another motion from her hands, it unraveled like solid rock, grabbing the crowbar made of energy and burying its other end in the cliff-face.

After a few moments of concentration and the sound of bending metal, the door suddenly gave way to the pressure and collapsed inward, giving them a free opening.

The three mutants climbed into the hangar, glad to be back on solid ground.

* * *

><p>Mystique ran through the lower levels of the mansion, feeling almost stupid. Of course, inviting the technopath to wreak havoc in a mansion full of automated defenses was stupid. It wouldn't have been as bad if she had activated Defcon Four herself, but due to his moving around within the computers, the mansion did it on its own.<p>

She clutched the CD to her side as she passed through the halls, still disguised as Risty. She finally passed through an impossibly large room, and was surprised to see the hangar. She crept along the walls, and for good reason too: just as she was about to exit the room, the hangar door was crushed open and three of the younger mutants wandered in.

"Of course," she muttered, hiding behind a pillar as they ran by. "That's the only way out of this place under Defcon Four." She held the CD close and decided to use that information to her advantage.

* * *

><p>The X-Men were nearly at the castle, after having fought off three Shadowcats in the forest. The team was beaten and bruised, but they still managed to pass through the simulated map quickly and precisely.<p>

"This is nothing compared to what I went through when I was in the actual game," explained Kris. "It felt like I was there for an impossibly long time. And I definitely didn't cover this much ground."

Finally, the castle was in front of them. They broke through the trees, but as soon as they did, the five of them stopped to look.

What looked like an entire battalion of soldiers was sitting in front of them, in front of the castle. They were really only about thirty strong, covered in black and gold armor and carrying shields and spears.

"Hmm," said Rivera. "I'll bet that Spartan would like this. He's got that whole warrior thing going for him."

Alex laughed quietly. "Most likely."

"What do we do?" asked Grant. "I'm not sure that we can take them."

Tempest smirked, her eyes starting to glow. "Oh, we can take them." Wind suddenly whipped out like blades, all around the huge battalion. It wasn't enough to harm them, just a quick distraction. She snapped her fingers and bolts of lightning struck the ground around them, pushing them together while driving them nuts. "Dynamo and Sparkplug, do it now! They aren't people, just computer programs."

They were confused for a moment, before finally understanding. Alex stepped forward and charged a green blast, while Kris started firing off sparks all around his hands. Kris waved his hand just as Alex let loose the laser-like blast of energy. The green bolt met orange sparks, and the entire thing more than doubled in size, a tidal wave of pure power.

It collided with the huge group of soldiers, cutting right through them and into the mountainous hill upon which the castle sat. When it finally dissipated, there was a huge crater where the hill should have been, and the castle was barely standing.

"Whoa," Grant said, his jaw dropping. "That's some power."

"Definitely!" Ava said, pushing forward.

They ran into the recovering pile of soldiers, which was reduced to about half the number now. Echo grabbed a sword and cloned herself, and the three girls used their mimicking powers to sword-fight, taking out any who were in front of them. Aurum then batted clean-up, using his powers to smack soldiers together and disarm from far away.

"Let's get inside the castle, now! Monitor is waiting!" Tempest declared, as they neared the now ruined gate.

* * *

><p>Both Pollen and Mudslide felt rather useless in the hallways, since they were out of their element in the metallic underground passages. There were no plants or mud to bend, but what they couldn't do, Spartan made up for it in bold.<p>

He blocked laser blasts, threw spears, and sliced through projectiles and tentacles as if they were paper. Haley and Camille watched in awe as he took the lead and covered their backs, all at the same time.

"Where exactly are we headed?" asked Haley, just as Reese blew up a camera with a purple energy discus.

"The op center, above the Danger Room," explained Reese. "I've worked with that computer before, and maybe we can shut some of this down with it. My solo-training sessions have got to work for something."

Camille was glad that they had a goal, as she and the others pressed forward, twisting through another hallway.

* * *

><p>Aurum reared back and punched, sending his fist through the air and slamming into a soldier's face, several feet away. The guard next to him barely had time to recover before one of Echo's clones, Chayce, suddenly appeared behind him and chopped his neck through the chink in his armor, dropping him almost instantly.<p>

As soon as the two guards were down, Dynamo charged up a blast of energy and fired, blowing the wooden door to pieces.

"X-Men, let's go!" Ava cried, and the five mutants entered the dark throne room.

They heard the sound of fingers snapping, and with a quick burst of yellow light, the door slammed shut instantly, automatically repaired. The room immediately brightened as a curtain swung open by itself, revealing the sun bearing down on them.

The throne was very ornate, decorated in the same colors that seemed to be a growing theme for the castle and its guards: black and gold. The person sitting in the chair was young, probably in his early twenties, and had gleaming armor that matched the room and the castle around it. He was holding a gleaming scepter in one hand and a sword in the other, and as they walked in, he didn't even move.

"Ah, yes," the man said. "I've been waiting for you."

"Why are you even here, Monitor? I don't understand," said Kris.

He didn't answer immediately, but instead stood up and paced in front of his throne. "Let's just say that I have friends in high places," the technoapth said, looking at Grant a bit longer than the rest. The malleable mutant prayed that the others wouldn't notice.

"So what do you want?" asked Tempest, growing angry.

"Nothing, actually," said Monitor.

Rivera scoffed. "Well, please explain why you are here. Why you are doing this."

"No reason," he said, looking distant for a moment. "Although, now that you are here, I suppose I'd like to challenge you all. Do you think you'd like that?"

"No, we wouldn't like that!" Alex grumbled. "None of us ever like a fight if we can help it."

The man scoffed. "I'm not really giving you a choice in the manner." A yellow flash lit up the room, and all the mutants but Grant were locked inside spheres of yellow energy. Some of them struggled, and they were about to try to break their way out, but Monitor shook his head. "Don't even think about it, children. You'll only harm yourselves."

"Why me?" asked Grant uneasily.

Monitor laughed. "Oh, I think you know. How does it feel, kid, to know that your mansion is under Defcon Four? I was the one who initiated it, and I believe you realize that that is your fault."

"Defcon Four?" asked Rivera, confused. "What's that?"

"The party!" Ava suddenly said, trying not to think too hard about why it was suddenly Grant's fault. "Monitor, they are just normal kids. Turn off Defcon Four, and we'll give you what you want."

"I don't _want_ anything," said the man pointedly. "I have everything that I could ever ask for here. I am a god here. What I do want is for this little boy," he pointed to Grant, "to admit his mistakes, even if I have to force it out of him."

"What's he talking about?" asked Kris.

Grant turned to his friends, giving them a pleading look. "If I admit it, will you let them go?"

Monitor considered it. "We'll just have to see."

"I took the video game out of Xavier's vault in the lower levels. I had asked him about it a while back, but he refused me," Grant explained.

"Well, what did you want to do with it?" asked Rivera.

"Play it?" asked Kris. "You saw where that got me."

"Can you let me finish, please?" When no one else interrupted him, Grant continued, "I wanted to research Monitor's effects on the game world. I wanted to see how the code of the game reacted to his mutantcy. I was so driven to do it that I went to school and copied some of the files, but I put the disc back in my bag. What I want to know is how this is all happening? Did any of you touch the disc?"

They shook their heads. "No," Alex answered. "How are you active right now, Monitor?"

The man shrugged. "Like I said, I have friends in high places." After a second of hesitation, he turned to face Grant. "I'll duel you for it. Sword to sword, no powers. If you defeat me, I'll let your friends go and turn off the mansion's security grid. If not, then you'll have to be absorbed into the game forever."

"Don't do it!" Kris yelled. "We'll find another way! You can't trust him!"

"I have to, Kris," the boy said. "I have to make it up to you guys."

The others sighed as Monitor snapped his fingers, instantly covering the boy in the same exact armor. A shield popped into his left hand and a sword on his right, exactly identical to Monitor's own, having replaced the scepter for a circular shield.

"You ready? First one to three points wins."

Grant nodded, and the technopath immediately leaped forward, sword drawn. The malleable mutant spun and caught the blade on his shield, before slashing at Monitor's side, just underneath the armpit. His sword instead met the video-game king's shield.

"It's evenly matched," Alex said, a little astounded. He hadn't expected it from the geeky mutant.

Grant tried to twist and swing his sword in a downward arc towards his opponent's neck, but instead got a stab to the ribs. It bounced off the thick armor, but stunned him enough to stop the attack.

"There," Monitor said. "One point for me."

Grant continued the stroke, but it was easily blocked this time. Monitor went on the more offensive route, pushing the X-Man back several yards through the throne room. Grant kept his feet moving, adeptly enough that no movement could trip him up and break his concentration.

But finally, the malleable mutant hit the wall, and it was jarring enough that he lowered his guard. A shield slammed into his own, and Monitor's sword slashed against his thigh, glinting off the hauberk.

"One more point, kid, until I win. Get your game together."

The smart mutant grimaced. "My. Name. Is. Not. Kid." He punctuated every word with a swing, finally pressing the other mutant backwards. A quick feint strike to the ankles gave him an opening, and he exploited it adeptly. Grant angled the shield down so that Monitor couldn't raise his own, and the blade met his chest.

"That's one point for me, Monitor. Don't you forget it," he said, pressing his attack once more.

But the technopath was ready for it this time, and in moments, he was back on the offensive. Grant flexed his body into new stresses, but did not stretch himself at all. Finally, Monitor's sword caught his own, and the two remained dead-locked for a long moment. Grant twisted his shield around and slammed it into the technopathic king's side, distracting him enough that he could break contact, side-step, and then swing his sword to meet the king's arm.

"Well-played, mutant," the opponent said. "I must ask you, where did you get these skills? I've had years to perfect it in this place."

Grant smiled. "Let's just say that I read a lot of fantasy."

Monitor grinned before continuing, wondering why he was having more fun than he had ever had in a long time.

Their blades danced, danced so fast that it was hard to track any one movement. Grant moved with excellent accuracy, not getting discouraged at all. For what seemed like forever, they were locked in a stalemate.

Suddenly, Grant backed off a step, hurled his shield, and side-stepped in the same second. Monitor was confused for about half a second, half a second long enough. Grant twisted almost fluidly and cut into the back of Monitor's knee, gaining the last point that he needed to win.

The others cheered, and Monitor took long deep breaths. "Good job. I'll release your friends, and switch off the Defcon Four." After only a couple seconds, the man snapped his fingers and the spheres holding the other mutants disappeared. "There, it's done."

Suddenly, and without warning, the entire simulation crumbled away, including Monitor. He made no sound as the Danger Room faded back to normal.

"What happened?" asked Rivera, as it was revealed that they were only standing in the huge circular metal room.

Suddenly, the voice of Camille came over the intercom. "It was me, and Reese and Haley. We found the video game disc in the Danger Room's computer, and we just took it out."

After a moment, they all looked at each other and then laughed. "Why didn't we think of that before?" Alex exclaimed, rolling his eyes.

"To save a bit of dignity, we didn't know it was Monitor until we were in the simulation," Rivera added, laughing.

"Is Defcon Four really off?" asked Grant, hoping that the technopath had managed to turn things off before he was "ejected."

Camille looked down at the controls. "Everything seems to be in order. Now we just have to clean up the party. It's almost midnight now."

All of them groaned.

As they exited the Danger Room, Grant looked up suddenly and said, "Look, guys, I'm sorry. It was just something that I wanted to do, and I feel guilty about it. Please, don't hate me."

They stopped. "Why would we hate you, Grant?" asked Ava.

"Everyone makes mistakes," Rivera added.

"It's not something that we would disown you over, I promise," Alex said with a grin. "Now, who wants some of that party food? I'm starved!"

* * *

><p>Everything was almost cleaned up when the front door opened, revealing the Professor and Keiko. Anyone in the area immediately froze, watching as though something was going to explode.<p>

"What's happened here?" asked Keiko.

Alex walked up, holding a broom. "We had a party here tonight, but then everything backfired. Somehow, the technopath who was trapped in the computer game made the mansion go haywire. He said that he had friends in high places, whatever that means. It was my idea to have the party though, Professor. We're going to clean everything up, and I will take the full blame."

Xavier didn't seem too surprised by that fact. "Well, I'd say there's plenty of blame to go around, Alex. Even extending to a mystery guest."

"A guest? You mean Monitor?" asked Reese, who was holding a bag of trash.

"No. Someone else. Someone who orchestrated all of this, including my trip away, just to gain access to the mansion," the professor said ominously, turning to look outside the front door.

"I guess we need to figure out who it was," Kris said.

"And what they were after."

* * *

><p><strong>How'd it go? Did you like it? Please review and let me know what you think!<strong>


	25. Beast of Bayville: Beasts of Bayville

**The Beast of Bayville:  
>The Beasts of Bayville<strong>

"Ugh, I hate school," the black-haired girl muttered, almost too loudly. Lily was sitting in the back, wondering if she could just shift and knock all of these losers out. Whoever invented high school obviously hated teenagers.

"Chemistry is the study of matter, and the change matter undergoes," the teacher said. "Um, to illustrate, turn to page forty."

That was the only good thing about this class. The new chemistry teacher, Mr. McCoy, was absolutely freakin' hot. Although he was nerdy, he was also in good shape and was actually pretty hilarious. So she definitely had a thing for nerdy PE teachers… so what?

"Now, there are stable molecules like water, and then there are unstable molecules like potassium metal," the man said, pulling up a pair of tongs and holding it over a beaker. "Unstable molecules have weak atomic bonds and break up easily. Kind of like the defensive line on our football team."

Everyone burst into laughter, and she wondered if she was laughing a little too hard. She didn't want to be one of those annoying ditsy people with a schoolgirl crush. Her father would claw her to ribbons if he knew she was like that.

"Okay," McCoy said, stepping back and holding the tongs over the beaker. "Let's see some fireworks." He lit the Bunsen burner and dropped the metal cube into the beaker. There was a split-second hesitation, before the water suddenly burst into flame, heat pouring from the solution. "Intense, huh?"

"That was really cool," muttered Astoria from her seat at the next table, her ever-present smile shining.

"I think he's really cool," Lily said without thinking, and she suddenly blushed when she realized what she had said. "You know, for a complete nerd."

"Uh-huh," the pyrokinetic said slyly, before giggling.

"All right, now where were we?" Just as Mr. McCoy was going to perform the same experiment in the dark, he suddenly cried out, grabbed his chest, and flung the beakers and test tubes to the ground, the glass breaking into tiny pieces and shocking everyone. He struggled against invisible pain, darting along the walls and out into the hallway. "Go…ahead and read… chapter four. I'll be back in a while."

"What was that?" asked Astoria.

Lily couldn't help but see some… similarities. She sniffed the air slowly, shocked when she smelled something… animal. Maybe it was just her, but it reminded Lily of her first transformation, when she had first mutated.

"I don't know, but I plan on finding out."

* * *

><p>Rivera was walking through the halls when Alex suddenly caught up with her. "Hey, did you hear?"<p>

"About what?" she asked, confused.

"About Mr. McCoy? He smashed up the mirror in the bathroom, after practically having a heart attack in class. Someone said that he just suddenly freaked out, and they heard yelling coming from the bathroom," said Alex.

"Seriously? But Mr. McCoy is like the best teacher around here. I hope nothing bad is happening to him," Rivera said.

"Yeah, me too," Alex said. "But I've got to get to class. Big physics test, and I don't want to be late. See ya!"

"Yeah, bye," she said, before looking over at the bathroom, which now had caution tape around it. The first mirror in the room looked like it had taken a shotgun blast.

* * *

><p>Lily was heading home, walking through the entertainment district. She was looking around, knowing that she was nearly home, when she heard a strange noise.<p>

Looking around, she found the source coming from the concert amphitheater. Surprised that anyone was using it, she sat on the first step and listened.

It was Mr. McCoy. She'd know that voice anywhere, even if it was garbled and angry. He was yelling something strange, and it took her a while to figure out that it was Shakespeare. He was yelling Shakespeare quotes into the echoing hall, banging the concrete slowly and pacing.

"Mr. McCoy? Are you okay?"

He turned, and without even skipping a beat, started yelling more quotes at her. He started stalking towards her, staring her down and freaking her out. It took every possible nerve ending in her body to make sure that she didn't shift and start stalking towards him, because he was encroaching on her space. Even if he was hot.

"If this is about not turning in that first assignment, I'm sorry!" she shouted, backing against the wall.

The man growled at her, literally growled at her, before leaping and throwing out both of his hands, hitting the concrete walls over her shoulders and literally cracking it and making hand-sized chunks fall out.

She gulped, before sliding down and around the now heavy-breathing man. "Mr. McCoy, please! It's me, Lily!"

That seemed to do the trick. He suddenly started to calm down, breathing more calmly than before. He sighed and grabbed his face, trying to regain some composure. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you! I was just-"

"I've got to go," she said suddenly, standing up. She was already having enough of this. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yes, I…uh… I'll see you tomorrow, Lily." He looked at her, having regained some sense of self. She looked back at him one more time before grabbing her bag and leaving. She was ready to be away from him.

* * *

><p>The cliffs and rocky bridges stretched before them, added all around a winding path. The five uniformed X-Men ran up the hill, ready to begin.<p>

Ava looked ahead, and felt the air patterns shift and change, before the metallic spheres even started to fall out of the sky. "There!" she pointed, and they dove towards them from the heavy clouds.

Alex turned and hit Kris with a bolt before running forward, blasting two of them with one shot. Kris started to back him up, using the borrowed energy to his advantage. He twisted and blasted one that was about to hit Rivera to pieces, and the cloning girl thanked him with a nod.

Ava tried to blow some of them away with her own winds, or at least cancel some of them out. They revolved around the group almost like a swarm, some of them roving around and dive-bombing them, literally exploding as they hit the ground.

Grant tried to run forward, using his stretchy body to cover more distance and to dodge, but one of them still managed to hit him across the back, throwing him down. He hit the ground, just as the others started to arrive at the target.

"Come on, we've got to go!" shouted Kris, trying to help Rivera onto the platform.

Ava and Alex both turned back to see Grant sitting on the ground. "No, you can't. I was hit, and the rules say-"

"Screw the rules," Alex said, yanking Grant onto his shoulders.

"No one gets left behind," Ava added, using her powers to shield them as the two ran for the finish line. She summoned gales of wind to knock them off course, and they were just about to make it too, when the time limit bell suddenly ran out.

"Oh, man!" Alex grumbled, sitting Grant down.

"Crap."

"Oh, well."

There was the sound of howling wind as the simulation faded away, and Storm hovered down to the ground. "Time's up. Nice rescue, Dynamo, Tempest. And Sparkplug, good restraint on not pulling that lever until everyone was there. Nice teamwork out there today."

"But, Storm, we messed up," argued Ava.

"No, I messed up when I was hit by that explosion sphere," admitted Grant, feeling guilty. "I was trying to make up for lost time, and I wasn't watching my back."

"It's fine, Grant," Ororo said, patting him on the back. "We just need to be more careful for the next time. Which will be tomorrow, same exercise."

They groaned.

* * *

><p>The next day at school, Lily was walking down the hall, about to go into her English class, when she nearly bumped into Mr. McCoy.<p>

"Oh, sorry," she said, making an attempt to pass him.

"Oh, no. It's okay," he said. "You're just the person I was looking for. Last night, you caught me at a bad time. I go there to, hmm, kind of get my head together. I suppose I get a little entranced by the whole Shakespeare thing."

_Entranced my ass,_ she thought, mentally rolling her eyes. _More like he lost his mind. _

"It's okay. I understand, I promise. A little more than you'd think, actually."

"I know you do, Lily. You're a bright girl, and you have a lot of potential. Including some potential in art," he said with a grin. "Those drawings are actually pretty good. You could really do something with that kind of talent. For all you know, you could be art's next big thing."

Her eyes widened, and she thought about dying right then and there from embarrassment. She was a doodler, that was for sure. And who better to doodle than the hot teacher?

At least, that was her inspiration to start. Now she wanted to just claw out her eye-sockets so she wouldn't have to see him again.

"I'll keep that in mind," she said, gulping with almost every word.

"Good," he said, clapping her on the back. "Oh, and about that missing assignment…" He pulled out a pamphlet. "Memorize this passage from Shakespeare and we'll call it even."

She nodded, watching him walk away. He headed into the gym, and she followed him.

He was coaching the girls' street hockey team, and doing a good job of it. Lily watched him coach, admiring him because of his encouragement skills. But just as one of the girls seemed to lose control for a moment, so did he.

McCoy clutched his arm, groaning as he tried to remain calm. Lily's eyes widened in shock as he turned and clutched his face, the look on it so horrifying.

"Catch me, Coach!" the girl who had lost control of her skates. "I can't stop!"

As the girl neared him, he suddenly twisted around and roared at her, hands outstretched like claws.

Lily ran to them just as the coach caught the girl with both hands, making her yelp.

"Hey, coach. It's all right. At least you caught her," she said, trying to calm him down. She didn't want to witness anything bad happening.

He let her go and the girl skated away, while he turned to rub his forehead once more. He was burning up, and she didn't even have to feel of him to tell.

"You okay?" Lily asked, trying to not show how truly concerned she was.

"Yeah," he muttered, keeping his face calm. "I guess that I'm a little jumpy."

Lily looked at him with concern, wondering what was happening to him.

* * *

><p>The nights at the Brotherhood of Bayville Boarding House during a storm are the worst. The rickety house does not fell sturdy enough, and no one actually seems to shut up. Thunder and lightning seemed to make the Brotherhood be at its wildest.<p>

Lily sat in her room, the door closed and locked, as she tried to make sense out of the Shakespeare passage. She read it again and again, truly wanting to do well on this, if only for McCoy's sake.

Sadly, she would never catch the end of it.

"What are you doing? Actually doing an assignment?" Archie exclaimed. "How unlike you? What kind of alien is inhabiting your body?"

She growled from behind the door. "The kind that likes to go so far up mutant boy's-"

"Ooh, that was a rough one," Archie said, cutting her off. "Why are you doing the assignment anyways? Sounds like a bunch of gibberish to me."

"Well, of course it would to you, Archie," Tristan called out. "You don't have a brain."

Lily chuckled, thankful that only Archie was being an ass about the whole thing. "It's Shakespeare, for Mr. McCoy's class. I'm supposed to be doing the assignment to make up another one, but you people will not leave me alone!" She accentuated the last syllable with a roar, hopefully enough to freak them out.

"Come on, let's leave her alone," said Tristan. "Down the stairs, now!"

Lily thanked him silently and got back to her reading, just as another thunderclap seemed to shake the whole house.

* * *

><p>Camille was sitting on the couch in the living room, talking to her father on the phone in full-blown French. She had not really had a chance to talk to him much since she joined Xavier, but he was cool with it. Especially since he lived only on the other side of the city.<p>

Another thunderclap made the mansion's windows shake, and she grimaced, hating storms. And rain. She was surprised that she could even stand to be around people like Ava and Storm, since they are practically walking tornadoes.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" she called out, before telling her father that she'd call back later. She hung up the phone and opened the door, surprised to see Mr. McCoy.

"Oh, hi there," she said, her French accent still lilting after talking for so long in French. "What are you here for, Monsieur McCoy?"

"Hello, Camille," said the man. "I'm here to see Professor Xavier."

Just to accentuate his point, there was another flash of lightning and a clap of thunder, and she nearly jumped out of her shoes as he stepped inside.

* * *

><p>Principal Kelly was just about done with paperwork when he suddenly heard a scream, and a large crash. His eyes widened as he realized where it must have been coming from, as Hank was the only other person on campus.<p>

He walked down the hall and stopped at the door, not sure of what he was going to find. As soon as he looked through the window, he saw the carnage that had previously been the lab. Freaking out, he was about to walk away from the window when something popped up and roared, and he wasn't even sure what he saw.

The door suddenly burst open, and that's when he got a good look at it. It was some kind of apelike beast dressed in Hank's clothes, covered in blue fur and bulging muscles. It roared and charged at him, but Kelly was already two-steps ahead, running down the hall. It followed him as hit the locked double doors, angry that he didn't have time to get out his keys. He turned and pressed against the door as far as he could, watching the creature that used to be Hank running towards him.

That's when he looked over to see the chemistry lab door, unlocked. He rushed inside and locked the door, pressing his whole body against it just in time for the blue-furred ape push the door so hard that it nearly came off its hinges. It slammed shut again, before one of its powerful claws tore through the wood as through it were made of Styrofoam, making the principal yelp.

He reached for the only thing left: the fire-alarm. He just barely reached it, but as soon it was pulled, the alarm went off and the creature went silent, backing away from the door.

After a moment, the principal opened the door slowly to see that the creature had torn the outside door off of its hinges, smashing through and running free through the city.

He looked down and saw the tattered lab coat, and upon picking it up, his eyes widened. The word "McCoy" was clearly labeled, as he had figured before.

"Mr. McCoy," he said in shock, looking out and into the city.

* * *

><p>The news report had all of the children abuzz, as well as Storm, Wolverine, and Xavier. Keiko was upstairs, trying to keep the younger students in line.<p>

_Principal Kelly was suddenly featured, holding a ripped lab coat. "I've seen the beast with my own eyes! I know who it is! It's Hank McCoy, a chemistry teacher here, and he's gone mad!"_

"Wow," Camille said, in her regular New Mutants uniform. She had refused to sit by while her teacher ran amok.

"No kidding," Alex agreed. "Poor Mr. McCoy."

Wolverine stepped forward and pointed out the line of direction of where the incidents have occurred. "Based on the sightings and the wake of damage, it's clear he's heading north."

Professor Xavier folded his fingers. "Then let's head him off. Remember, we don't want him hurt!"

* * *

><p>Rivera pointed down suddenly, attracting Ava's attention. "Look! It's gotta be one of his!"<p>

"He'll be around here somewhere. Keep your eyes peeled!"

They looked around at all the broken cars and parts, for any sign of him. Suddenly, lightning flashed across the sky and they spotted a shadowy figure not too far from where they were. It sped off as soon as it knew it was noticed.

"I'll track him," Rivera said, already running forward, darting between cars. "You contact the others!"

Ava nodded and ran, grabbing her communicator and trying to head the creature off. "Wolverine, he's in the scrap yard."

"On our way!" his voice barked from the other side of the communicator.

Rivera climbed over cars using her clones to boost her, keeping a speed that only a gymnast could have. Her mimicking power was quite handy for things like this, and she cart-wheeled and somersaulted over wreckage, trying to keep on his tail.

She stopped suddenly, having lost sight of him. "I think I lost him," she said into her communicator, but as soon as she said it, the animal hybrid jumped down behind her and roared, almost like a lion.

Echo turned and summoned her clones, and used them to try to trip him up as he charged. They successfully made him lose his balance, and she darted to the side just in time to hear the roaring beast fall to the ground.

But as soon as he had fallen, McCoy twisted and growled, nearly jumping into her again.

A sudden bolt of lightning, colored amaranth pink, struck the ground in front of its path, making it stop. Another struck in almost the same spot, before a gust of wind suddenly picked up and launched the jumping man-beast in the opposite direction. Ava concentrated, increasing the wind's speed, until the gale-force wind threw the beast into a wooden fence.

The rampaging mutant tried to recover, but before it had a chance, a sudden and familiar metallic claw cut through the fence and Wolverine appeared on the other side, before launching into a duel with him. The much older mutant tackled into the blue-furred man, making the two of them roll through the yard. But soon enough, the creature picked up the adamantium-boned mutant and hurled him into a huge, metallic crane.

Kris rushed in through the break in the fence, just in time to see Logan and McCoy grappling each other, vying for dominance. The beastly man hurled the animalistic Wolverine into the air as though he was a rag doll, but the Canadian mutant grabbed onto a power pole and slid down it, all the way to the ground.

"I'm going after him!" Logan yelled as the creature ran from the area, growling all the way. "Stay together!"

"Storm, he's still heading north," conveyed Rivera into the communicator.

"We'll be waiting," she answered.

"Where could he be going?" asked Ava.

"I don't know, but let's follow and provide back up if we can," answered Kris. The three mutants rushed off, in the direction that Wolverine went.

* * *

><p>Lily was almost done memorizing her part, feeling rather proud of herself despite the fact that it was so late at night. She took a deep breath and was about to put her booklet down when she heard something, something angry. She temporarily went into beast mode, becoming a seven-foot-tall black-furred lupine girl. She listened and suddenly realized that it was something animalistic, but there was something familiar about it too. She sniffed the air and suddenly opened her eyes wide, realizing that it was the same smell she had smelt in class the other day.<p>

Mr. McCoy.

The girl opened her window quietly, so as to not wake up or have to deal with any of the other Brotherhood teens. After shifting back into her human form, she climbed up on the windowsill and jumped, shifting in mid-air to land on her feet.

She used her powerful legs to run, following the scent.

* * *

><p>A bolt of lightning lit up the sky, and even the alleyways had some light shed on them. A figure was slightly lit up, showing its dark mass.<p>

"There he is!" shouted Camille, seeing her teacher standing in the alley. She and Grant and Storm ran forward, trying to see where he was going.

Just as they reached the spot where the creature had been, they were confused about where it had gone. But there was a roar and it suddenly dropped from a ledge over them.

Grant yanked them out of the way, while Camille focused on the sewer manhole beneath his feet. After a long moment, sewage (and not the wet kind) shot up from the beneath the lid, almost like a solid piece of earth. She flicked her wrist, and the almost pillar-like earth snatched onto the end of the teacher's leg, binding him in place.

Storm looked at her in some surprise, before shrugging it off and waving out her hands. A sudden updraft appeared underneath the creature, flinging him upward and over the roof of the nearest building.

"I got him!" Aurum said, suddenly stretching up and over and onto the roof.

He looked around, trying _not_ to imagine how Camille learned she could control the solid part of human excrement, but he was not on the roof. He peered over the side and gasped, just as the creature jumped up and grabbed him, crashing through the skylight of the warehouse-like building.

Grant shot his arms up and latched onto the skylight's frame, stretching up like a bungee cord to stop his fall, but McCoy still felt and crashed into one of the crates below.

"Where is he?" Storm asked, as Grant fell to the ground and landed on his feet.

"In here somewhere," Grant answered. "The place where he fell is empty."

Just then, the creature roared as it crashed out of the crate nearest to them, trying to rush them. They braced themselves, but the man was suddenly blasted by a green blast of energy, and thrown through a brick wall.

Storm rushed up to the hole, but the creature was gone. "It's on the move again," she said in the communicator.

* * *

><p>Lily, thankful that she could still track his scent, followed all the way to the place where she had thought he would be: the amphitheater. She morphed into human form and walked onto the stage, unable to find him.<p>

"Mr. McCoy?" she called out.

A sudden growl from behind her rang out, and she looked up to see a blue-furred version of the teacher she had once had a crush on hanging from the top of the wall like an ape.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed as he dropped down to the ground behind her, growling the entire way. He was completely out of his mind, and when he took the first swipe at her, her body reacted.

She growled back as a hybrid herself, a seven-foot-tall female version of him. The man was completely confused after that, and Belle roared again to prove her female dominance. McCoy was completely astounded, even in his beast-like state of semi-consciousness.

But before anything else could happen, a sudden orange-clad man with adamantium claws on each hand slammed shoulder-first into the teacher, throwing him against one of the pillars. He then raked his impervious claws against that pillar, dropping rubble all over the creature.

Before Lily could do anything else or ask why Wolverine was attacking him personally, a sudden blast of orange energy followed by a bolt of amaranth electricity hit the ground before the recovering teacher, throwing him off. Ava, Kris, and Rivera appeared on the scene, confused about Belle being there.

Rivera's two clones suddenly appeared, holding both of the creature's confused arms down, pinning it against the back wall. Ava supplied a gust of wind, but concentrated it to hold only McCoy in place against the back wall, strengthening it to bind him there.

"I can't hold him for long at all," Ava said aloud, and Belle heard.

Thinking of what had calmed him down the other night, her mind suddenly flickered to the Shakespeare quotes. She took a second to think, and then started to recite. It began to rain, matting down her beasty fur.

"Show his eyes, and grieve his heart," she began walking forward to stand directly in front of him. "Calm like shadows, sewed apart! Sleep shall neither night nor day, hang upon his penthouse lid, he shall live a man forbid! Fury's nights and nine times nine, shall he dwindle peak and pine!"

The growling beast continued to struggle against his bindings, but everyone watched as Xavier rolled down the slope and began to enter his mind.

"Though his part cannot be lost," began Belle again, still in her beast-mode, "then it shall be Tempest's toss!"

The beast yelled and screamed, before finally losing consciousness.

* * *

><p>The mansion's inhabitants were all at breakfast when the news report about McCoy finally came on.<p>

"_After a night of terror, local teacher Hank McCoy's whereabouts remain unknown. But until he's found, police have vowed to continue their search."_

Hank growled in front of the mirror, before looking from Lily to Xavier. He was glad that she was there as well. "I still look like a monster."

"But you're now in the one place where that doesn't matter," explained Xavier.

"I can still feel it though. Inside," he muttered, looking at his huge hands.

"And you probably always will," Xavier explained.

"The worst part is… the very thing I feared most has happened," said the man, looking back at his reflection. "My teaching days are over now that I look like this."

Lily cut in. "Hey, doesn't Grant have one of those watches that makes him look normal? Can you make him another one?"

"To look like whom? Hank McCoy?" he stopped, grunting. "He's a wanted fugitive."

"But you could be anybody," Lily suggested.

Hank shook his head. "With a beast inside trying to claw its way out? I just can't risk it."

Xavier suddenly had an idea. "What you need, Hank, are students who know your secrets. Who have secrets of their own, and who need a man of your compassion to teach them."

* * *

><p>As the mansion was enjoying breakfast, no one seemed to notice as Lily stepped out. She wished Mr. McCoy luck and said that if he ever needed any help, she'd be willing, if she wasn't busy. The man had laughed and thanked her for coming and for helping.<p>

"Students," Xavier said, rolling into the kitchen. "Please. Say hello to the Institute's newest faculty member."

Hank McCoy walked in with all of his blue-furred glory, waving to greet them.

"Hello, Mr. McCoy," said Rivera.

"Good morning," added Kris.

"Thank you," he said, smiling. "But it's not just Mr. McCoy. From here on out, you can call me… Beast."

* * *

><p><strong>And another one down. What do you think? Did you like it? Not much changed, so you could probably skip this one without affecting the plot too much, but these episodes were in the original and they're going to be in this one too. :D <strong>

**Just to clarify something: Camille can control any of the "solid" stuff that you see in "sludgy" material, associated with the earth. This gives her control over mud, oil or gasoline, and unfortunately, the solid part of sewage. She's just another example of a mutant whose powers are not all glamorous. :D **


	26. Adrift: Reaching New Heights

**Just, before this chapter begins, I apologize. I know absolutely nothing about Whitewater Kayaking, as I have never been before. But I've always wanted to, so that's what fueled the inspiration for this chapter. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>Adrift:<strong>  
><strong>Reaching New Heights<strong>

The waters were favorable, the cool river air lightly blowing. The sound of the rushing current was sweet music to their ears. The appearance of wildlife was visible on several occasions.

Grant ran his hand through his hair, before taking up the kayak paddle again. He looked to the two kayaks on either side of him, smiling.

"I'm glad we're on this trip, Dad," he said, pushing his oar through the water. He truly was glad, but he wished that he didn't have to put on his image inducer. His father didn't exactly like the idea of him being gold-skinned the whole trip.

"Me too, son," the man answered, looking so outdoorsy in that moment. "So how goes the Institute? Is everyone treating you well?"

"Of course," Grant said with a smile.

"Definitely, Mr. Forsythe," added Ava from her own kayak. When she heard about Grant's father-son kayaking trip, she couldn't possibly refuse. She'd always wanted to go, and now she was getting her chance. "I can attest to that. Everyone admires him cause he's the one we look to for answers in class." She was only half-kidding of course, but after a short laugh, his dad didn't really appreciate the sentiment.

"You've gotta get me caught up on what all you've done since you've been there," he said, riding the calm currents. The nearest rapids were a ways off, so they enjoyed the time to talk.

The two mutants shared a quick look, trying to decipher if they should tell about their mutant antics as X-Men. Eventually, they agreed.

"Well, we've had… quite the number of adventures, Dad," said Grant, pushing a little in the water to prevent his kayak from turning.

"Well, tell me about them. You can't leave me hanging, son," he added, grinning.

Grant was surprised by his forwardness. The man had always been a little distant, not really wanting him to open up. And after he was revealed to be a mutant, Grant definitely wouldn't expect it.

"Mr. Forsythe, have you ever wanted to go to space?" Ava asked suddenly, breaking the tension.

The man looked at the two of them in confusion. "Space?"

"We've been there," Grant said with a smile, shocking him.

"But it was completely safe! We just had to battle a megalomaniac mutant and his group of wannabes," added Ava suddenly. "Actually, the others did the fighting. I was… turned against them and started fighting them."

His dad may as well have fainted, for he was dead silent, trying to grasp this. "What do you mean?" he asked after a short, hesitant moment. "What has Xavier got you doing?"

Grant shot a worried glance at the weather manipulator, angry that she might have gone too far. "He doesn't have us doing anything, I promise. It's nothing that we wouldn't do of our own will. The only time we have to do something that we might not necessarily want is when have a Danger Room session at five thirty in the morning."

"Danger Room?" asked his father incredulously, not liking the sound of that.

Ava was about to step in, but he stopped her. He explained briefly that the Danger Room was merely a combat exercise, like a training room for applications and use of their powers. It was all just a simulation though.

"Look, Dad, I know it sounds bad, but I promise you that it is not as bad as it sounds. All of us, we love it there. We're a part of something, Dad, something that we all love. Trust me, if I wasn't doing something worth all the danger, I'd come home."

"Well, what are you doing then? Because it sounds to me like the man has you in life or death situations all the time."

"We're saving lives, Dad. And we're learning how to save more lives in the future. Our powers are a blessing, even if it feels like a curse sometimes," explained Grant, determination to make his father understand in his eyes. "I love what I'm doing, and I get better at it each day."

Just to demonstrate, Grant threw out an arm and grabbed a rock from the bank nearest him, several yards away. Then he retracted his arm suddenly, before producing it to his astounded father.

"See? It's doing some good for me; when I first manifested my abilities, I barely saved your life, Dad. Xavier just wants us to be able to use our powers in the future for good."

His father thought for a long moment, and the two mutants resorted to silently passing the time, pushing down the river. After what seemed like forever, his dad finally made a remark, but it wasn't what they expected.

"Look, the rapids! Get ready!"

Up ahead, not fifty yards ahead of the three kayaks, were the beginnings of the rapids. They knew it would be tame at first, but soon enough, it would get rough. Very rough. Grant's dad specifically picked this river for that purpose, since he liked a challenge.

That's when Ava realized it, and she could take it from this angle. "Think about it, Mr. Forsythe. As X-Men, we might be willingly risking our lives to save others. But, is that any different from picking the Upper Toulumne River? You wanted the risk, the sense of adventure."

"Exactly, Dad. I mean, this place is famous for its rapids!" Grant said, liking where Ava was heading.

But before they could get an answer, the man's boat hit the first rapid, instantly yanking him in one direction. He pushed with his paddle in the other direction, straightening him out.

Ava hit the first line next, not sure of what to do. She remembered the advice she had been given by Logan before she left, and used her paddle to steer and keep her balance.

Grant hit next, doing much the same that Ava and his father were doing. He used his powers to his advantage, by stretching his weight in one direction for maximizing the effort to stay upright.

"Everyone okay?" asked his father. "The next line won't be so easy."

"Yeah, I'm good," Ava answered, not sure of what she had gotten herself into.

"Me too," Grant assured, ready for the next one.

"Good," he said. The river took a slight bend, through a small valley. "Now, I get what you are saying, son. And you too, Ava. But I still don't like the idea of you running around like a soldier."

Grant sighed. "It's not interfering with any part of my life, Dad. My grades have never been better, and I've done several extra projects. My mutant life has gone well, for the most part. Sure, it seems like it's one drama-filled episode after another, but I like it. In fact, I love it. We all do, and it's why we do it."

The next line, like he had warned, was worse than before. He charged through it without saying a word, and landed a little bit leaning to the right. Grant stretched and caught the end of the kayak, yanking it to the left quickly before Dad could lose balance.

The next two made it through without any long-term problems. The space before the next big line of rapids was almost a hundred yards, so they knew it would be a significantly longer amount of time.

His dad looked up to see storm clouds that seemed to be brewing in the distance. "Oh, those don't look good."

Ava smiled confidently. "Eh, don't worry, Mr. Forsythe. I've got it under control."

He pondered it for a moment before Grant cut in. "She can control the weather, to a certain extent. Although Miss Ororo is-"

"You had better say that she's inferior in every way, Grant, if you know what's good for you," the girl interrupted with a warning smirk.

"Significantly more experienced, since she's in her late thirties and has had more time to perfect her control, and even she struggles." Grant wondered if that would even work.

"What he means, Mr. Forsythe, is that both Ororo and I can control the weather. Except, mine is a little more raw than hers."

He was astounded by both of them. "So you can control the weather? That's… odd."

Ava's eyes began to glow with amaranth energy. Wind began to pick up all along the area, making the trees rustle even more than they were before. A boom of thunder echoed throughout the valley.

"See? It's not _that_ odd," Ava tried. "I'm not as good with things like rain or making clouds, but I'm okay at generating wind." She snapped her fingers and a weak bolt of amaranth lightning shot across the clouds above them. "Lightning is what I'm best at."

"Whereas, Miss Ororo is good at all of those things," added Grant, with a smile. Ava glared at him. "And she can use wind currents to fly, while Ava can't."

"Hey, I did fly! Once!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, but your basic mutant abilities were amplified by Magneto."

She _tsked._ "It doesn't mean that I won't be able to learn! I've glided before, and on my own power too!"

"Gliding and flying are two _very_ different things."

"Well, I guess since we're on the subject, what can the rest of them do? I mean, it reminds me of reading comics when I was little," he said, finally showing interest and trying to break the argument.

So Ava and Grant explained what the X-Men, faculty, and New Mutants could do, making sure that there was enough detail that he didn't ask many questions. Meanwhile, they hit some rapids but managed to hit through them without any problems.

"That actually sounds pretty… interesting, to say the least," the man said finally.

"Yeah, being a mutant isn't all bad, Dad," Grant said, pressing a button on the image inducer and showing his true skin. "I might be a little too abnormal-looking, but I've embraced that too. If it wasn't a necessity to remain hidden, I wouldn't wear this thing."

His dad flinched at the sight of him, which upset Grant. The boy put the disguise back on with a frown. The man touched the bridge of his nose, trying to think. "Look, son. I'm sorry. I haven't been… accepting of this side of you, and I truly apologize. It's just that I never expected anything like this. I mean, it's impossible, and yet I'm seeing it unfold before my very eyes."

They looked ahead for a moment, and the next rapids were nearing. Grant was about to answer when the river current suddenly sped up, yanking his father into it. They watched with horror as the man's kayak tipped over, and they could do nothing to stop it. His head hit a nearby rock as he tipped, and then the current pulled him and the kayak under, the current yanking him forward.

"Dad!" he yelled, shooting a worried glance to Ava.

* * *

><p>"I love snow!" Jacquelyn said, running out to meet the wintry grounds. The entire mansion was covered with snow, and the huge expanse of landscaped trees and grass was no exception.<p>

"Eh, I don't," Haley said from the doorway. She looked positively cold, her skin and hair almost brown. "I guess it's a plant thing, but I'd rather stay out of the cold."

"Suit yourself," the French girl said. "Everyone, come on out! Let's all play in the snow!" She threw herself down in her thick coat and gloves, instantly waving her arms around to make a snow angel.

The other New Mutants, excluding Haley, were soon dressed and equipped for the frigid temperatures. Reese, Augustus, and Masato joined her outside, laughing and playing around.

"Why are you having so much fun?" asked Aug to the Japanese boy. "You seem to be enjoying yourself for once!"

He rolled his eyes, before picking up a clump of snow and chunking it. It hit Aug in the back of the head, and he burst into laughter.

"So that's how it's going to be, huh?" asked Aug, picking up another ball. "Snowball fight!" He suddenly spun like a vortex and launched the ball at high speeds, aiming right for the Japanese boy.

Masato grinned, before throwing his hand to the ground and absorbing energy, armoring up until his spiky black hair and jet black skin contrasted completely with the ground. He took the snow ball to the chest, and showed no sign of it at all.

Reese suddenly tossed his own, hitting Jacquelyn in the back. She peered at him and grinned, before suddenly morphing into a tiger and digging up snow.

"You look like you're playing in a litter box!" Reese teased, and she growled in her non-amusement. She suddenly picked up a huge wad of snow between her back legs, did a front paw-stand, and twisted her body in mid-air, flinging a huge ball at Reese.

The boy merely chuckled as his purple energy shield appeared and took the entire attack. "It's going to take more than that, Tigress!" His shield disappeared and in its place, a large purple sling-shot appeared. He smirked and grabbed snow into his hand, before placing a hardened clump into it. "Ready?" he asked.

She merely smirked as he fired the projectile, almost as fast as Aug's vortex snowball. Just when she was going to get hit, Aug suddenly jumped in front of her, planted his feet, and spun. He became a blur, and the wind created by it was enough to pull the snowball around him, like an orbit. It then was launched again at Reese, travelling much faster than before.

Spartan didn't have enough time to switch for a shield or to dodge, but just before it could hit, Masato's arm suddenly appeared in the way and blocked the snowball.

"When did they split into teams?" asked Haley suddenly, who had almost dozed off standing up. She figured that it was a plant thing. She watched the two teams of two stand off against each other, throwing balls of snow and having a merry time. It was almost enough to make her want to join them, but the idea of braving the cold again made her want to go dormant for the rest of the season.

"I do not know, but it seems like a lot of fun," said a kind voice from behind. She turned to see Beast walking up, his kind furry smile almost warm enough to melt the snow outside.

"Not for me," she said with a sigh.

"Why so upset?" he asked from the doorway, watching the two square off.

"Watch this," she said, placing her green-pigmented hand outside the door. After a moment or two, it started to lose its color and turn brown, like a dead leaf. "See? The cold is too much for me."

He pondered her predicament. "Hmm, I may need to run tests on that. It seems as though it's just a facet of your powers, but it could be something else. Has it ever affected you like this before?"

She shook her head. "No. This is the first snow I've ever had. Back in the Savage Land, everything was warm and tropical, despite where it was." Her voice was tinged with regret, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. She was surprised at the weight of the arm, but the fur was very warm.

"Perhaps it's because the temperatures are below freezing," he pondered. "It could be that your blood can't keep warm enough to support the plant part of you." He thought for a moment more. "This could make winters very hard on you, both physically and mentally, if you are cooped up indoors all day. I'll see what I can do in the lab. Maybe Keiko and I can work something out."

She smiled at her new teacher. "Thanks, Mr. McCoy."

"You're very welcome," he said, smiling. "But if you'll excuse me, I've got to show the others how to _really_ have a snowball fight."

Haley smiled as he left the mansion, heading down to join the fight. She suddenly wished that she could join in, but as soon as she took the first step outside, her entire body shivered.

* * *

><p>The kayaks sped through the water, Grant practically hysterical and Ava trying very hard to do what she could to slow them down. She blew strong gusts of wind in the opposite direction of the river, in an effort for them to catch up with the kayak.<p>

His arms stretched out to grab his father's boat, and once he was certain that he was attached, he let his lower half go and retract toward his arms, like a rubber band. He was now sitting atop the other kayak, and he used every means he could to turn it over, feeling Ava's supportive wind.

"Please be okay, please be okay," he chanted again and again as he finally managed to turn it over. His limp father was still attached to the boat, but he was out cold and bleeding profusely from a large gash on his forehead.

"Is he all right?" asked Ava, scared for his life.

"Not dead," Grant uttered, not sure of what else to say.

Ava's winds were doing little to stop the current, and they hadn't even hit the most deadly part of the river. She began to pray under her breath that everything was going to be okay.

"What are you doing?" he asked, trying to get himself into a position where he could hold his father's head wound closed and work a way to get to the bank at least forty yards away.

"Praying," she muttered.

"Like that'll help."

She frowned, not ever considering that Grant wasn't exactly a man of God. She didn't have time to fret over it though, because they all heard the sound of the rapids increasing. And somewhere down the line was that waterfall that Grant's dad had mentioned…

"Can you stretch over to me and try to fight the current?"

He shook his head. "I don't have super-strength, Ava. It won't do any good."

"Just do it, please."

"The extra effort will make the boat capsize again, and then both of us will be hurt."

"Please."

Grant sighed, and with one arm still pressed onto the wound, he stretched the other to Ava's kayak, almost fifteen yards away.

"Now what?"

"I'm going to levitate the kayak and get it to the bank."

"You won't be able to. Even if you could fly yourse-"

"Grant, give me some positivity here! Shut up and do as I say! Before the next rapids hit." He remained quiet and let her try her way. If they even had time for it.

Her eyes began to glow and immediately, the wind picked up even more than they were before. Grant was trying to come up with another, worthwhile solution while she tried to do something she had never done before.

Grant thought about the bank, and using the trees to pull himself to them. But even if he could do that, his arms were too soft and stretchable. He'd never be able to keep his arms from stretching uncontrollably. If he could slow down the stretching, maybe he could pull himself to shore, but he wasn't strong enough for that. He knew he wasn't.

He looked back at Ava and suddenly froze. She was doing it, little by little, her kayak was hovering an inch or two above the water, but the strain was obvious. Beads of sweat poured down her forehead, just as blood poured from his father's.

Grimacing, she started trying to cover the distance between her and the bank, and little by little, she was making progress.

But disaster struck and broke her concentration when the kayak Grant was sitting atop hit a small line of rapids, and his outburst was enough to make her lose focus. The girl and her kayak plunged into the water.

Grant tried desperately to hang on and keep it afloat at the same time, and thankfully, he had managed.

"Okay, that's it," Ava exclaimed. She suddenly pulled herself out of her kayak. Before Grant could ask her what she was doing, the girl leaped from her boat in the direction of the bank nearest him. She stayed in the air longer than he would have given her credit, effectively gliding, before she fell back into the water about ten yards from the bank. The current pulled her away from it for a moment while she caught her bearings, and then she started to power stroke.

After what seemed like the longest, most enduring minutes of her life thus far, she finally grasped the soft mud of the bank and pulled herself out of the current of the water.

"All right, send your arms over. I'll pull you out!" Ava cried out, following the current as best she could over the bumpy terrain of the bank. It wasn't exactly smooth soil for her to traverse.

He figured her reasoning, not sure if it would work. He focused hard on stretching towards her, while keeping the kayak steady. As soon as her hands touched his, he got his hopes up.

She yanked and pulled, all while trying to keep her leverage. But the slope was slippery and his arms wouldn't stop stretching, like a yo-yo that continued to unravel as fast as she could yank the rope.

"Concentrate!" She yelled. "I'll handle the rest, just stop stretching! Focus on stopping the stretching! You've done it before, and you can do it here!" She was recalling the times when he had bungeed to stop himself from falling, but Grant knew that that was only his body weight. Now he had his father's and the kayak to worry about. His arms couldn't handle the stress to stop stretching.

"I can't."

She was getting angry now, and decided to try a bit of tough love. "Grant Forsythe, can't never could! Wait until Logan hears about this! Your dad will die if you don't stop yourself from unraveling! Your powers are the only thing that can help you and your dad right now. You are your only hope!"

He focused as hard as he could, trying to keep his arms strong and taut instead of weak and loose. For a long moment, the only thing he could think about was his father possibly dying.

With a surge of concentration, his arms suddenly snapped tight like a bow-string, and Ava took every chance she could get to slam her feet down and yank. After a long, hard-fought moment, they stopped the kayak from being pulled by the current.

"That's it," she said encouragingly. "Keep it steady." Using strength he didn't realize the petite girl had, she pulled with all of her might.

But suddenly, her feet gave out to the slippery slope and she hit the ground, losing her grip on him. The kayak suddenly sped forward, hitting the nearest rapids line in seconds, knocking them around but somehow staying upright.

Grant tried to stretch out to a now running Ava, but each rapid was enough to break his chances. The river bent and turned against them.

The girl, still running, whipped out her bag-covered phone. She dialed Xavier's number while she kept up with the kayak, wondering why she hadn't done this before. Thankfully, Xavier seemed to get the danger of the moment and picked up immediately.

"No time to explain, but Grant's dad is hurt. Get here ASAP." She clicked off the phone as soon as agreed and poured on the speed to catch back up.

"Xavier's on the way," called out Ava.

Grant shook his head. "It doesn't matter. We'll never make it before the waterfall."

That's when they heard the rushing water, almost like a thunderous boom that repeated again and again. She looked ahead, thankful that it was a ways off.

"Okay, throw out your arms and catch these two trees!" she said, pointed to a clump of trees up ahead. The two arms wrapped around the trunks, but once again, he couldn't make them taut.

"Are you going to give up, Aurum? Or are you going to fight for it? Come on!"

He focused, his energy spent, and the two lines remained taut. Instantly, the kayak lurched and nearly tipped, making him let go.

She studied his face, and immediately saw the look. The look that he had given up. He embraced his dad a little bit tighter and closed his eyes.

It was like the next few moments happened in slow motion. The kayak lurched forward, hitting a rapid and speeding up. Before Ava could do anything, if she could have done anything, the two of them fell off the waterfall, and Grant didn't even bother to scream.

Ava leaped.

And prayed.

She dove far faster than she would have thought, but the waterfall was at least a forty yards high. Her eyes glowed pure amaranth light and she felt the wind currents change instantaneously, as though evolution was making her fit to survive.

She stopped falling just as she waved her arms and the kayak lurched to a stop. It was as though she could see silver lines of wind gathered all around her and the kayak with Grant and his wounded father assembled.

Taking in a deep breath, Ava slowly lowered to a wide bank below the falls, her "passengers" falling in tune with her. As soon as they touched down, Grant released a breath he didn't even know he was holding, and he embraced his still wounded and unconscious father.

"I know, I know," Ava said. "I'll try not to say 'I told you so.' I completely understand."

He rolled his eyes, keeping his fingers pressed tightly to the gash. "Can we quit with the snarky comments until after my father isn't dead?"

She sighed. "All right. But can I at least get a-"

Before she could say another word, a now sobbing mutant embraced her around the neck. She was a little taken aback, but soon enough, she returned the embrace, her eyes tearing up.

"Thank you," he said with a smile. "I had given up, but you-"

"No need to thank me, or to finish what you were about to say," she said, pointing up. "Thank the big guy. He's the reason that miracles like these happen, don't you think?"

He smiled, and she could tell that she might have gotten through to him.

* * *

><p>After almost an hour of waiting, the jet finally seemed to breach the horizon and they immediately got ready to board. Mr. Forsythe wasn't doing very well, and Grant had noticed the drop in blood pressure, even more so than for someone with an external wound.<p>

As soon as the X-Jet lowered down, both Grant and Ava picked his father up and started to carry him over to meet Alex and Storm.

"How is he?" asked Storm as they finally got him into the jet.

"Not good. Blood pressure is dropping," Grant said distantly.

"Let's get him to the nearest hospital," Xavier said from the pilot seat. "No time to get him back to the mansion."

As soon as everyone was ready, they took off. Grant held his father's hand the entire way there, while Storm covered the wound with gauze until they could get him to a doctor. Ava thought she could see him mumbling, and it distinctly sounded like a prayer.

* * *

><p>"Is he going to be okay, doctor?" asked Grant as soon as the doctor walked up to the group from the emergency room.<p>

"He should be fine," the man said reassuringly. "Any longer though, and it could have been a different tale. He'll have to stay overnight, but you should be able to be on your way in the morning." He walked away after his announcement, leaving them alone in the waiting room.

The tension seemed to lift from the group almost immediately, and Grant was so happy that he could have bounced off the walls. Which was possible, if he wanted to form himself into a ball.

"I can't ever thank you enough, Ava," he said with grateful smile. "If you hadn't been there to fly and catch us, you knew what could have happened when we fell off of that waterfall. You saw what good I was."

"No, you were doing just fine. Don't worry about it. Now that's he's fine, it's no big deal."

Grant smiled but everyone else was a little baffled. Alex suddenly looked up at her and said, "You flew? And stopped them from falling down the waterfall?"

She nodded, describing what happened right before.

"That's wonderful, Tempest," Storm said, smiling. "Now we can begin the next part of your training."

She sighed. _You save someone's life, and you get more training afterwards… Something is wrong with the system…_

Xavier chuckled, and she knew it was from reading her mind.

* * *

><p>Grant's dad woke up later that night, and he was surprised to hear of what happened. When he heard the full account, he thanked both of them for saving his life.<p>

Mr. Forsythe ended up having a long discussion alone with Xavier, probably about what they had discussed at the start of the kayaking nightmare. When they were finally invited back in, the man had something to say to his son.

"When I heard all of that stuff you two were saying about what Xavier's was like, I was shocked. Almost enough to force you back home, Grant. I mean, what kind of man would let children fight other children, powers or no?" His son gulped. "But then I started talking with him, and I've listened to Xavier explain his ideals and his methods. I've heard accounts of you saving people's lives, and how that your power training has increased that potential for you to save more. Not to mention the fact that you've both saved mine today." Grant's dad paused, thinking. "My point is this: keep doing exactly what you are doing. If you can stop bad things from happening to good people, human or mutant, then I respect your decision and I applaud you for taking the risk. Thank you, Xavier, for opening up their ability to save lives. I couldn't be more proud."

"It's my pleasure to teach all of them, including your son," the telepath said with a smile.

Grant and his dad embraced, thankful to have not lost each other.

* * *

><p><strong>When I started this chapter, I was apprehensive. I had no clue where to take it. Adrift was not my favorite episode, and I couldn't do a repeat, so I pretty much applied the elements to whitewater kayaking. Hopefully, it worked well. Please, let me know what you think in a review!<strong>


	27. African Storm: Shadows Just To Be King

**African Storm:  
>Shadows Just Can't Wait to Be King<strong>

The huge bonfire was the only light in the area, allowing them to see. It was so large that it seemed the dark sky above them was painted with orange and yellow smoke, as though the fires spread to the very stars.

The figure hiding behind a boulder, watching the chanting Africans, frowned. The chanting and rituals might have been a tradition, but it wouldn't help them. It wouldn't help them at all in what really mattered.

Finally, the cheering women and children stopped as one man walked out of the hut not a few meters away, keeping his air of authority about him. The figure immediately knew that he had to get to this one, in order to get what he wanted.

"After ten long seasons," the authoritative man began, gathering a flaming torch into his hand, "the night winds have finally answered my pleas!" Everyone paused, waiting to hear what he had to say. "Our wandering goddess has been found!" He tossed the torch through the air, and it landed at the foot of a statue. "The power of the Wind Rider belongs to us! We will claim her once again, and Africa shall be mine!"

The flames spread to the statue's face, a beautiful woman with long, flowing hair. The figure watched the declaration of war with a gleam in his eye, knowing far too well that the Hungan's plans were naught.

The figure remained hidden, knowing that with a thought, all of Africa would be his for the taking. He just needed the Goddess at his side, where he and she could forge a new path together, side-by-side.

* * *

><p>Ava, her mind still stuck on the history test she possibly failed, was blindly walking through the outdoor cafeteria, not even looking ahead. When she finally realized where she was, the girl looked out to see if there was a place to sit.<p>

She immediately caught Alex's tall form. His short blond hair seemed to catch the sun at just the right angle for it to almost glow, and his green eyes were bright and cheery. She looked to his right, just for a brief moment, and gripped her tray hard, for she had realized now why he was in such a good mood.

Taryn Fujioka was sitting next to him, a little too close. She was smiling and laughing and having a grand old time. Ava's brow raised in question: why was she sitting with him? She broke up with him over the summer break?

Ava turned and was about to walk to another, empty table, when she heard that voice. It startled her so much that she nearly jumped and fried the people within a ten-foot radius of her.

"Avalon! Sit here with us!"

Feigning a smile, she turned and joined them, sitting across from Alex. He greeted her with a cheery smile, but Ava knew better: he was feeling guilt, with a tinge of regret. She could almost see it in his eyes.

Ava's eyes flickered to the girl, wishing that no one, especially her, would ever call her Avalon again.

"Hey guys," she muttered. "How are ya?"

"I'm fine, thanks to Alexander here!"

_What is the deal with ignoring nicknames? _Logan would not like her at all in Danger Room sessions, where it was required to use codenames, and only could almost imagine Taryn saying, "Good morning, Logan "Wolverine" Howlett!" and Logan giving her a death stare.

"It was nothing," he said, trying to ease the tension. "Really, it wasn't. I just helped her with her geometry homework is all."

Ava's brow furrowed. "But you hate geometry. And anything related to math."

The boy frowned back. "Nah, it's my best subject."

She peered at him. _Why is he trying so hard to impress her? That witch dumped him, and I had to cheer him up and listen to his problems._

"Okay, so how'd your report card come out, Ava?" Taryn asked, trying to change the subject.

Ava merely shrugged with indifference. "Okay I guess. Straight B's works for me. You?"

That was the wrong question to ask, and she regretted it instantly. Taryn went into a lengthy description of how great her grades were, how loved she was by the teachers because she was good at soccer and how organized she was. Ava tried not to puke.

A long moment passed without anyone saying anything at all, and the three teens just stared back at each other. "You know what, I think I'm just going to go and sit somewhere else."

She didn't bother listening to either one of them reply, as she got up and headed to almost the other end of the outdoor seating area.

* * *

><p>A tall, striking African woman with long, impossibly white hair and deep, piercing blue eyes had walked the length of the back yard a few times by now. She spent half the time worrying about an ominous feeling she had, almost like how her mind seems to just know when a storm is coming, and the other half watching some of the New Mutants swim in the pool. Keiko and Hank were trying to lead a joint lesson about underwater combat, but it wasn't going too well.<p>

She was getting impatient. Her first ever student was late, almost too late. It wasn't like the girl to be so off, and it made Ororo worry if things were starting to pile up on the young mutant's plate. It's possible that she was simply too busy, too distracted by everything else.

Finally, she felt the air change as the back door opened, revealing the petite girl with mocha and amaranth-streaked hair. She was wearing her uniform, a silver form-fitting suit that showed a bit more leg than Storm had originally liked.

So revealing that Augustus seemed to lost his focus as she walked by, and swam right into one of the pool's walls, making the other kids laugh.

"Sorry, Storm, I'm here," the girl said as she finally met up with her teacher.

"Tempest, why are you so late? Punctuality is very important. Is something the matter?"

Ava hesitated but shook her head. "No, not really. Guy troubles, I guess."

Storm seemed to understand immediately, looking at the horizon. "Well, I'm here to talk, if you need anything." She pointed up, before steadily rising on wind currents. "But now, it's time. I've seen you fly, and worked through some of your major flying issues over the past couple weeks, since the river incident. Now that you have the basis, it's time for your first aerial combat lesson. Are you ready?"

Ava grinned. "As ready as I'm going to be, Smoggy." She started to apply her "wind cocoon." There was a moment where nothing happened, and it wasn't as effortless as Storm, but finally she steadily rose to the Wind Rider's level.

"All right, you won't be fighting me," Storm said, pointing back towards the ground. As she did, as if on cue, the gazebo near the pool opened up, and three robotic drones suddenly popped out. She had fought them before, but that was on the ground. She grimaced at the thought of getting hit with an orange paintball in mid-air. "You'll be fighting them. I'll be keeping the weather conditions in check and making sure that you remain airborne, but this is all on your own power. If you can survive for three minutes, you'll have passed this lesson. If not, you'll be doing it again and again until you do."

Ava nodded, a look of determination on her face. Her hair was moving all around her as she pushed on the air to keep her aloft, applying enough concentration to stay level. "I'm ready."

"Go."

The drones surged towards her, their cannons pointed directly at her. She barrel-rolled in mid-air, a move Storm had only recently showed her. It was sloppy, but she managed to avoid the first few orange projectiles.

Clicking her fingers, lightning streaked down in the direction of one drone, but it narrowly avoided the attack. Another barrage of paintballs was sent her way, but she dropped like a rock for an instant and evaded them.

Another quick gesture sent amaranth-colored electricity their way, and she actually managed to hit one of them, causing it to explode. She celebrated for a brief moment before more orange rained down on her.

Mimicking a pose like Clark Kent, she cut through the air horizontally with a decent amount of speed, aiming for directly below the second drone. Pushing her arms upward quickly, an updraft hit one drone and it teetered off balance.

But the display of wind was too much for Ava's focus, and she started to drop like a rock. Ava fell like a ragdoll, flailing her arms to try to remain balanced. For a horrible moment, she was afraid that she was going to either plummet into the earth or into the ocean over a hundred feet below.

When impact came, she had her eyes closed. But when she realized that there was no pain, she looked down to see that she was being held in the air only a few inches above the ground by a paper crane that had wrapped its neck around her middle. She was about to sigh with relief when a paintball hit her shoulder, making her cry out in pain.

Origami walked over and smiled, before absorbing the papery substance back into herself. "I have your back, Ava. Storm helped slow you down in the last second, and my crane stopped you from hitting the ground."

"Thanks," she murmured, wishing that she had passed the lesson.

Storm touched down and the drones flew back into the lower levels through the open gazebo. It closed up as soon as they passed.

"Not bad," Storm said, telling the truth. "However, you seem to lack focus. Whatever happened today, that made you upset- was it bothering you then?"

Ava shook her head. "No, I don't think so. Just trying to create that updraft while I was flying horizontally was too much."

Storm nodded, still in thought. "Okay, well, let's try again tomorrow. Maybe a good night's sleep will clear your head."

Ava nodded appreciatively, as the sun began its descent.

* * *

><p>The professor looked outside the window, fog gathering and gripping the mansion as though it were being smothered. He wondered, as the firelight warmed his office, if Ororo was okay. The fog was not unusual at this time of year, but the woman had simply been a little distracted lately.<p>

On the other hand, it could have been Ava as the source of the weather, although with her feisty personality, Charles could only expect a hurricane or a tornado. It made him chuckle.

Xavier stared down at the calendar on the desk, not even realizing the significance of tomorrow's date until just then. Dark memories flooded his mind for a moment, and he relished in them before pulling himself back to reality, a slightly perturbed expression on his face. Keeping his mind alert for any changes in the area, he prepared for any unusual astral activity.

* * *

><p>"Is everyone on edge now, or something?" asked Kris, his mind on the outer fog. "It seems rather… odd around here. More odd than usual."<p>

Alex shrugged. "I don't know, but that mist out there is creepy. I thought I was being followed twice just to go and take out the trash earlier."

Rivera nodded. "It's just an unusual day, I think. Storm seems… out of sorts. Beast said that he was concerned about her earlier." She turned to Ava, who had otherwise been out of the loop, laying on the sofa and trying to drown out anything else with music. "Ava, do you think Storm is okay? Was she all right during your session with her?"

The girl thought for a moment. "Yeah, I think so. Although, she didn't berate me for being late like I expected. Usually, things like that bother her a bit more."

It was a mystery to them, that was for sure.

Camille spoke up from her book, written entirely in French. In other words, a complete mystery to the rest of the people in the room. "Did you see the way Logan held the door open for her earlier? Maybe they're engaged!"

You could have heard a pin drop in the already quiet room.

"What?" asked Alex.

"They seem so right for each other! You guys can't see that? I mean, they have like perfect chemistry; Logan doesn't even seem grouchy to her in the mornings, like he is to all of us!" She continued to say lengthy descriptions of what sounded like hogwash, and even some of it was in French and indecipherable to the other young mutants.

Kris was the one to be blunt, and said what everyone was thinking, "Camille, we all like you and everything, but please shut up."

The girl frowned before returning to her book. The others watched the girl with newfound curiosity; she had never sounded more like a fan-girl ditz.

* * *

><p>The woman was asleep, but dreams kept trying to overtake her. She focused on them, trying to bat them away and understand them at the same time. Images shot across her mind, mixed with blurred memories and misunderstood emotions. "Stop," she said in her sleep. "Stay back." The last one she was fairly able to decipher: a pair of white eyes against a misty black background.<p>

"Stay back!" She awoke with a start, crying out into the night, instantly feeling as though someone was watching her. Like someone was in the room, along with the cool night wind.

Almost instantly, she was aware that there were no intruders in her room, but her heart couldn't stop racing. The first person in her room was Logan, and he rushed in growling, claws out as though he was ready to slice someone to bits if they teased him for his pajamas. He rushed over to check the double balcony doors, which were open to the night.

Rivera suddenly shot into the room, for hers was only just across the hall from Ororo's. "Hey! Are you all right?"

"Someone was in here!" she exclaimed.

"Logan?" asked the professor from the doorway, along with Camille and Kris.

The man sighed. "Nothing."

"Check the security system, just in case," Xavier said, rolling into her room.

"Right," Logan said, walking to do that. "Back to bed, little Triplet. Everything's fine."

As he was walking out of the door, Camille shot a look to both Rivera and Kris. "See! He was the first person in her room! That's gotta mean that he cares about her!" she said in an excited whisper.

Kris sighed. "Camille, it can't be because his room is right beside hers, and that he has enhanced hearing, can it?"

"Not to mention that they are good friends," added Rivera.

Camille frowned. "You guys are no fun." She went back to her room, leaving it open for her roommate.

"I'm willing to be no fun if it means I'm sane," muttered Kris, before turning toward his room.

Rivera frowned. "Don't be mean."

He grinned, before entering his room.

* * *

><p>"I could<em> swear<em> there was someone in here," Ororo said, rubbing her forehead. "I've just been so distracted lately."

"Distraction notwithstanding, I've been worried, Storm. Tomorrow- well, actually, today- is the twentieth anniversary of-"

Her eyes widened in a mixture of shock and fear. "Oh! Farouk! How could I forget?" That news did not make her feel better. "Do you think he's involved in this?"

"I'm keeping that possibility open," he admitted. "It's possible your dream state could have sensed him here, if he was here."

"That's a scary thought," she said, frowning. "Regardless, I'll try to remain focused, more diligent."

He nodded. "I'm going to try to see if Cerebro can pick up anything. Try to get some sleep. He won't attack now that I'm awake."

She nodded. "Okay. But don't strain yourself, Charles."

He smiled. "I won't. Good night." He rolled out of the room and shut the door as he passed by, before heading towards the elevators.

Storm took a deep, long breath before laying her head back down, thinking of happier thoughts.

* * *

><p>After trying to remain asleep, Ororo decided that a bath might do her some good. She turned the water on and then headed to the sink, aiming to get some moisturizer for her face. She opened the cabinet, grabbed the bottle, and then made to close it.<p>

She gasped as the image of a white eyes surrounded by black appeared on the mirror. In her rage, she hit the mirror with the bottle, breaking the surface into pieces.

Collapsing in the corner, her mind was devoid of thought. She sat there, motionless for immeasurable length of time.

"Ororo?" asked Camille, rushing into the flooded bathroom. "Are you okay?"

"Oh," Ororo murmured, barely looking up at the French girl. "Camille."

She looked uneasily at all the water around her, not liking it one bit, but she hid her discomfort. "Come on, let's get you up and moving."

After a short moment, the woman opened the door, her head drooped elsewhere. "Ororo, are you all right?" asked Xavier, standing next to Alex.

"Yeah, can we do something for you?" the other asked.

"No, thank you… I'll be fine," she murmured, walking off.

Camille's voice broke the reveries outside. "Um, Professor?"

He rolled into the slick bathroom, and Camille swung the cabinet door to reveal the broken mirror. As soon as he saw it, his eyes widened with surprise.

* * *

><p>It always made Alex laugh to think that the world kept moving outside, while on the inside, things happened in his life that would make or break everyone else. It amazed him that the non-mutant humans didn't have any intuition to wonder if something was going wrong in Bayville. Ever since any of them had woken up and had heard about Storm's bathroom incidence, a cloud of gloom spread over all of them.<p>

His head told him that it was just stress. But his heart, his instincts told him that something was amok. Amiss. Wrong.

"I swear, Kris, something was wrong. Something is just plain off about her," Alex said to Kris, both on their way to class.

"About who?" asked a sudden voice behind him. He twisted to see Risty walking up to speak with them.

"Ororo, one of the teachers at the Institute. She's been a little weird lately," explained Kris. Alex explained what had happened in the bathroom that morning.

"Oh, no," Risty said, looking down. "I feel bad for her. As if she doesn't have it tough enough dealing with her claustrophobia…"

"Hmm?" asked Kris. "How'd you know that?"

Risty suddenly backed up a half-step, rubbing the back of her head. "Oh, no reason. I think Dean must have mentioned it to me, but it's just gossip. See ya!"

As she walked away, the two boys shared a look.

* * *

><p>Beast was taking a walk, contemplating the meaning of life and all of its eccentricities. Like this blue fur that he was now accustomed to.<p>

A bouncing football broke his reverie, and he stopped to watch it go by. He heard an almost whirring shout and then his eyes widened, just in time to see the swirling vortex approach him, more out of control than a hugely-drunk driver.

Beast and Spindle collided, both being thrown to the ground.

"So sorry, Dr. McCoy," the African American mutant said, standing up and offering his hand to Beast. "You know how hard it is for me to spin and move at the same time."

The blue mutant smiled as he was yanked to his feet. The other New Mutants gathered behind Aug. "Virtually impossible, I know. But you will get better." _I hope_. He paused, looking around at the misty atmosphere. "Is Storm holding a session out here in the fog?"

"Nah," Pollen answered with her usual carefree attitude. "She never came, so we came up with this." She gestured to the ball now in Aug's hands.

"Ah-huh," Beast said with a smirk. "Which is usually followed by costly repairs." He looked back towards the mansion. "Well, I guess that means that I'm your sub. And I've got just the activity for you."

He led them to the Danger Room, not bothering to have them dress out. Automatically, that made both Reese and Masato question it, but when the volleyball net appeared, they understood.

"Okay, listen up. It's time to learn a valuable commodity: self-restraint," he picked up the ball and spun it around his fingers. "The goal is simple: volleyball with _no_ powers."

They cheered, excited. "Now if they can just survive one session without needing to go to the infirmary."

Camille and Reese were chosen to be team captains, and soon enough, it was a three on three match: Reese, Aug, and Jacquelyn on one side, and Camille, Masato, and Haley on the other.

Jacquelyn served the ball and lobbed it over the net. It went right for Masato, and he leapt in the air and slammed the ball down. It cut straight down at a very high speed, hitting the ground before Aug and then hitting him in the chest.

"Seriously? You want me to believe that you didn't use your powers on that one?" He smiled, before tossing the ball back to the other side. "It's on now!"

Camille served it once more, and it went straight for Aug. The boy smirked before spinning and shooting the ball back over the net at high speeds, high enough to make it hit the ground hard.

Beast ran out of the room just in time before it suddenly became an all-out war.

"Oh, boy."

* * *

><p>Late that night, at almost midnight, Ororo stood atop her balcony, questioning and remembering. The misty air seemed to be good for her mind.<p>

_She was younger. Much younger. In her early teens, her powers nearly too strong for her to control. The village had just suffered a huge drought, and she was suddenly approached by the other members of the tribe, led by a man with a white skull painted on his face: the Hungan._

_Hoping to save her people, she pointed to the skies as the villagers watched. Her eyes began to glow with blue light, and a swirling cluster of dark clouds approached overhead. Within seconds, almost torrential rain began to pour into the dry riverbed, renewing the flowing current. _

_The rains continued as the water flowed, and the group of villagers were so happy and delighted that they began to revere her as a goddess. The totems and statues of their old gods collapsed and the Hungan coordinated a statue of Ororo to be carved, in honor of the Wind Rider._

_She seemed to be enjoying the high life, and the pride that came from her people was enough to make her feel powerful. Almost too powerful, but she enjoyed it nonetheless. _

_Using her ability to fly, she travelled to nearby cities faster than any of them could, and began to pickpocket from markets. The thirteen-year-old girl with white hair and blue eyes pilfered coins to purchase goods, such as medicines and salves for disease or rakes and hoes for crops. She was so happy with herself for succeeding thus far that she found the richest man in the area, an obese man wearing a pure white suit and a tiny red hat. _

_As she approached him, as silently as possible, the man whipped around, frightening her. _

"_What have we here? A pretty little girl trying to steal?" asked the man. _

_She tried to shake her head vehemently, but he didn't seem to listen. "Oh well, you'll never steal again, unless it's for me." _

"_Leave her alone!" yelled a voice. _

_Ororo turned to see a skinny man with no hair and wearing a beige outfit, like an archaeologist. _

"_Oh? Someone else for me to control?" asked the obese man, placing a hand on his temple. "Charles Xavier? Why does that name sound familiar?"_

"_So you're a telepath as well, Amahl Farouk?"_

_Ororo only heard bits and pieces of their conversation, not understanding much of what was happening. She focused on trying to avoid them, but she couldn't move. She was rooted to the spot, unable to leave or run away. _

_After a long while, Farouk whipped his head back and screamed in agony, before dropping to the ground, lifeless. Ororo froze, not sure what had just happened. _

"_It's going to be okay, little girl," the skinny man said, walking up to her. He placed his hands on his temple and began placing calming thoughts into her head. "That man is simply asleep, but he will be just fine. My name is Charles Xavier. What is yours, if I may ask?"_

_She swallowed. "Ororo."_

"_Ah, yes," he paused, looking at his watch. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to offer you something." _

She both smiled and frowned at the memory. While it was the first time that she had met Xavier, it was also the first time that Xavier had encountered an evil telepath. Ororo had not understood what Xavier had done to him until later in life, but he had entrapped the man within the Astral Plane, a dimension that is essentially formed from the subconscious of every person on earth. She had asked him why he would do that, but Xavier explained that Farouk had been planning something big. Something that Charles knew he had to stop before it could start.

She was about to turn back around when she suddenly felt something crawling around on her legs. She looked down and her eyes widened. Black and gold scaled cobras were wrapping around her legs.

She cried out and immediately took to the air, flying high enough that she could catch her breath in full view of the mansion on the grounds. The woman rubbed her forehead, trying to calm herself down. She opened her eyes to see something moving fast below.

* * *

><p>The feeling of the air soaring around you, cupping you in the sky and propelling you high above the ground was an experience that could not be matched. It was exhilarating, and Ava could understand why every child in the universe wanted to do it. To take off and leave the earthly bindings.<p>

It was better than the best dream you can think of.

She refused to fly higher than about ten feet over the lawn, afraid that if she screwed up, she would fall too hard. She heard something behind her, but it was masked by the flow of the wind over her ears.

She flipped over and flew upside down, so she could watch the moon as she flew. She concentrated and felt herself dropping, so she quickly flipped around.

But not before seeing another figure above her. She saw the white hair flowing behind her and knew it was Ororo. But as Ava watched Storm drop towards her, a sudden black shadow popped out of nowhere, visible only by moonlight, and was absorbed into the woman.

"What the-?" she asked, watching Storm suddenly straighten and fly towards the city, gaining height to soar above the clouds.

"Oh God, I've got to warn Xavier…"

* * *

><p>Ororo slowly awakened and immediately started to heave. She was trapped in a small compartment, probably a steel crate, and her whole body started to fight against it.<p>

"No!" she screamed, banging on the sides. "Let me out! Please, let me out!" She shot a blue and white bolt of lightning at one wall, but it merely absorbed the discharge.

She felt the panic attack begin to fade, and slowly, her body lost more and more energy. She felt herself fade away, and lost track of the flow of time.

The woman was barely aware of the lid being opened and light pouring in. A shadow of the man above covered her body.

"Your spirit has been broken, Wind Rider!" the man said, a double-layered voice as though there were two people speaking at once. Neither voice sounded normal. "And now, I can take your body from you!"

The man leapt into the tiny space and placed his hands on her forehead. She screamed long enough to look up to see blackened eyes fade from his, and she knew as soon as the foreign presence entered her mind that her eyes became just as black.

* * *

><p>A man on a blue motorcycle dressed in an all orange, almost feral-looking suit drove up to the docks, fog heavy in the air. He sniffed and smiled. "Gotcha." He opened his communicator. "I've tracked her to the docks. She's here, somewhere!"<p>

"We're on our way," Xavier confirmed.

Wolverine put the comm. link down. "Pardon me for not waiting." His claws extended loudly.

He stalked through the area, keeping his body behind crates. He sniffed every once in a while, and when he caught a scent, he leaped out and grabbed a surprised African man, and then through him against the nearest crate.

"Where is she, bub? I won't ask twice!"

"I-I tried to stop him. To save her."

"From who?"

The man gulped. "The Shadow King!"

Wolverine's eyes widened, just as he heard the familiar whir of the professor's wheelchair.

"Where is the Shadow King keeping her?" asked the Professor, cutting right to the chase.

"He's already begun the transition," the man said, worried. "He's in full control of her body, but her mind is still fighting back."

The professor nodded. "That's good to know. Thank you for the information. You had better leave before this dock becomes a warzone." As the man left the docks without question, Alex stepped forward.

"Professor, we're all wondering here. What's the Shadow King?"

"A powerful telepath that I encountered decades ago. I made it so that his mind is alive, but his body isn't, and I nearly destroyed him. But he's come back, living through host bodies. Right now, he's fighting to take over Storm's in order to gain her powers."

Kris sighed. "It's always about the powers. Why can't we fight a villain who just wants fluffy bunnies?"

They laughed, but Wolverine didn't think it was funny.

"All right, quit it with your jokes. Team up and let's move it!"

"I'm going to face off with him, my X-Men. You need to concentrate on taking down his pawns!" Xavier explained as they ran off.

Wolverine and Ava sped off together, dashing towards the north side of the docks. Suddenly, Logan wheeled around and pointed. "Watch your back!"

Ava summoned the wind dome around herself just in time, and the dart volley sent from various places was diverted away from her, enough that she was never touched. A few close calls, but never touched. "Dang, where are they? They are coming out of nowhere!"

Logan simply sliced them with his claws, and his healing factor would help him if he had to.

Grant and Alex ran through another row, just in time to see two huge daggers leaping in their direction. "So are their weapons!" He slid his hand through the air and sent out a pulse of green energy from both hands, almost looking like a semi-circle cleaving the air as it stopped the two knives.

Grant flipped around just in time to stretch out of the way of a javelin that was hurtling towards him, his body resembling an _s_. The spear nearly ran right into Rivera, but she ducked just in time, and it impaled the side of the crate.

Two more warriors suddenly approached her from both sides, and she smiled. She jumped into the air and onto the spear jutting from the side crate, and used it as a springboard. She flipped acrobatically, before cloning the maneuver until there were three flipping bodies. She landed on the warrior's shoulders, flinging him to the ground, and the next two hit his stomach and chest before rolling off. She smiled at his unconscious form, before Echo and her clones rushed the next warrior.

"We just have to be quicker than they are!" Rivera said, before converging on the next warrior. "And what's with their black eyes?"

Grant looked on, ready to fight, when two more warriors leapt from the crates to his right. He flicked out his arms, the movement so fast that it almost sounded like an umbrella opening as he stretched his hands out and created a shield, and the two bodies collided with it and fell backwards. "Must be a sign of them being under the Shadow King's control."

A rope suddenly came out of nowhere and lassoed Kris, and he screamed for help as he was pulled away. A green blast from Alex hit his body, and he discharged the same amount at the rope, breaking himself free.

Ava and Wolverine sped up and onto the boat, following his animalistic sense of smell. They were only on the seemingly empty boat for almost a second before they saw Storm standing atop the crate where she had been held, her face determined. Ava gulped when she realized that her eyes were dark and clouded with black.

"I am the Shadow King! Where is your figurehead, Charles Xavier?" the woman said, her voice doubled over with a man's voice.

"Here, Farouk," Xavier said as he and the other X-Men hurriedly joined Wolverine and Tempest. "Let her go!"

The enemy telepath laughed. "No. I refuse to give up this power!"

Storm lifted into the sky as Xavier began to concentrate. Lightning cascaded down to the group like a quick waterfall, but Logan's insane reflexes worked wonders: he leaped from where he had been standing and the blast hit his claws in mid-air frying his metallic skeleton but leaving the others unharmed.

Alex charged his hands and Ava's eyes began to glow.

Suddenly, Storm grasped her head. "No! Xavier, you will not succeed again! You simply are not powerful enough!" Clouds suddenly appeared on the horizon, and wind gathered all around them, whipping at the group of mutants below.

Ava was about to take to the skies to try to match her, but Xavier shook his head. "No. You aren't skilled enough to handle battling another weather manipulator in the air."

The girl frowned, but she wasn't going to let that deter her. "Fine, then I'll do it on the ground." She waved her hands and blasted Storm with a weak amaranth bolt, but the Shadow King-controlled woman sent out a weak electric field that absorbed the impact.

The professor renewed his efforts, trying to focus hard enough to uproot the control. The other mutants watched helplessly as the telepaths struggled against one another, but it seemed that Xavier had the lower hand.

"It appears that you have lost your touch, Xavier! The last time you met, you imprisoned me in mere moments!" the Shadow King yelled from Ororo's body.

"You have fallen far, Amahl, during your time in the Astral Plane. I am aware of your… changes," explained Xavier, before offering a hand to Kris.

_Supercharge me, but only for an instant. I can't afford to lose control of the situation by hearing half the city's thoughts,_ Xavier thought in Sparkplug's hand.

Kris nodded, emitting a small glow on his pointer finger. He tapped Xavier's palm with it, and within seconds, Storm's head whipped back and then came forward. An astral scream tore through the night.

Ava immediately flew up to catch the now falling Storm. She smiled at the disoriented woman as she touched down, glad that Ole Smoggy was okay.

"I'm sorry, everyone," Ororo said when she came to a few moments later. "I just didn't have control." She shuddered at the thought.

"It's quite all right, Storm. Thankfully, the Shadow King has been eradicated. He will no longer be able to harm anyone else again," the professor said proudly, his mind still on the psychic battle that had been waged.

"Good," the woman said weakly. They started to move, Storm in Logan's arms as they walked back to the X-Van. The woman smiled brightly at Logan, and the blush across his face was quite evident to the students.

"Okay," a bewildered Kris whispered to the others. "We all agree not to tell Camille about this, right? We'd never hear the end of it. And in French no less."

Rivera nodded after a moment. "Agreed. But you have to admit, they _are_ kind of cute together. Logan's so short, and she's so tall; it's like opposites!"

"Opposites attract," Alex added, smiling.

"Most definitely. Which color hair would their kids have?" Ava asked. "Blue-black or white?"

"Well, the percentages pretty much indicate to any of four possibilities, depending on which phenotype is dominant and which is recessive," explained Grant, a thoughtful expression on his face. "If the genotypes are..."

Kris face-palmed as the nerdy mutant continued his rambling. He listened to the others talk about what a good couple the two instructors would make, and he sighed. He was surrounded by idiots...

"Hey, Beast and Origami have been getting pretty close, haven't they?"

Kris rolled his eyes. It was going to be a long ride back to the Institute.

* * *

><p><strong>Good? Bad? Please, let me know what you think in a review!<strong>

**Yes, the Shadow King made an appearance. He's originally from the comics, and he made an appearance on Wolverine and the X-Men in the episode "Overflow" (which was sort of my inspiration for Storm's past). Figured I'd use him as a change-up in this chapter to make it more exciting. I hope you enjoyed!**

**And, I'm a Loro Shipper (sort of). I wasn't necessarily making fun of Loro in particular, just in shippers themselves. I figured it would create some humor. :D Camille was like a parody character here... Anybody laugh?**

**Eventually, this Author Note will end. I realize some of you were expecting "On Angel's Wings" this week, but according to a website I went to, that episode was filmed out of order. Anyways, I'm just letting you know that "Joyride" is next, and "On Angel's Wings" comes right after. Next week's update might not be on Wednesday because I have hit the end of my pre-written chapters, but hopefully this weekend I can catch up. Wish me luck.**

***Whew... End Rant***


	28. Joyride: Trusting the Siblinghood

**Joyride:**  
><strong>Trusting the Siblinghood<strong>

A lone figure stood outside the gate, moonlight illuminating the wrought-iron fence. He took a deep breath before tossing his bag over the barrier, thankful that the alarm hadn't gone off yet.

He walked up to the gate, only a centimeter apart. Finding his inner focus, the figure suddenly took another step and his body slid through the iron bars like a liquid. There was an itchy sensation as he pushed the rest of his body through the gate, solid passing through liquid.

He bent over to pick up his bag, and almost instantly, the alarm klaxons rang out into the night. Automated turrets popped out of the ground, appeared from the trees, aiming directly for him.

The figure threw out his arm suddenly, and a whip of water extended from his arm, cracking in the air and slicing a turret in half at the base, before it could even fire. He continued his march towards the innards of the Institute.

A whirring sound came from his right and left sides, but before the intruder could react, the two saw blades suddenly collided. His body had turned to water at the last possible second, an involuntary defense mechanism that left him split in two. The two blades collapsed to the ground in mangled pieces of metal, while his body reformed a few feet away.

He had a smug expression on his face, before throwing out two tendrils of water, the liquid strangling a turret in a tree like twin, blue boas.

The figure did not stop his stride, calmly approaching the angel fountain in the center. The statue suddenly rose and more laser cannons aimed toward him, but with a wave of his hands, the water in the base of the fountain crushed inward and knocked the angel statue, guns and all, to the ground.

He stopped and watched as the X-Men suddenly appeared, some looking like he had woken them up out of a dead slumber. Nothing that a little adrenaline wouldn't fix though. He looked at their faces, but the one he wanted to talk to wasn't there.

"Something we can do for you, bub?" asked Wolverine, his claws suddenly shot from his knuckles, the sight almost enough to make the intruder back up.

"Sure," Archie said suddenly, crossing his arms. "I've come to join the X-Men. You know, for my sister."

To say that the X-Men were surprised was probably an understatement.

"Seriously?" asked Kris, more than perturbed. And angry that he was woken up at this hour.

"Yeah, I'm serious," he said with determination.

"Yeah, right," Logan said, putting away his claws. "And I want to be the tooth fairy."

They laughed, and Archie set his jaw, knowing that this was what he expected.

But a bald man on a wheelchair, the infamous Professor Xavier, rolled forward. "Just a minute. Let's hear what he has to say."

* * *

><p>"All right, Archie," said the professor from behind his desk. The X-Men had been relocated to the professor's office, Archie in tow. He supposed that they didn't want to risk Xavier getting hurt. Which was probably fair, he had to admit. "Why do you want to join the X-Men?"<p>

"Yeah," Kris added. "Did the Brotherhood kick you out? Kinda sad if the rejects rejected you."

Archie shook his head defensively, clenching his fists at Kris's insult. "No, they're all right. Annoying, I'll admit. But they'll be fine without me."

Ava stepped forward and stood in front of him. "You're plotting something. Why else would a guy like you switch sides?"

Archie glared at her. In a moment of wisdom that shocked everyone in the room, he said, "Why exactly are you people stubbornly demanding that there_ are_ sides?" Logan grumbled, and Alex nearly jumped to his feet; his stomach grumbled, but he tried to hide the fact.

Ava glared back. "When you helped Magneto, you picked a side!"

The Brotherhood member held his hands up. "Hey, I just wanted to be with my sister. Why isn't she in here?"

Rivera groaned, not liking the idea. Professor X had an understanding look across his face, and she groaned. "Professor! Are you sure that you want to go down that road? He could be a bad inf-"

The telepath set his jaw in a look that made Rivera immediately shut up. "Fair enough. Why don't we give it a try?" He extended his hand to the boy, a symbol to what was about to happen.

Ava looked at him with bewilderment. "Really?"

The professor turned his hand and a surprised Archie walked forward and shook it. As they let go, Ava was upset.

"Seriously? Professor, I-"

"Grant, why don't you show Archie to one of the guest rooms?" suggested Xavier.

The golden-skinned boy stood up and Archie followed him. "Fine. Come along. Try to use more than one brain cell when you walk up the stairs."

Archie set his jaw once more and tried to ignore the jabs. "What about Camille? Can I not see her now?"

Rivera quickly answered, "She was asleep when the alarms went off, and she's usually a light sleeper. She was trying to help me study for my French final, so I wouldn't wake her."

Archie sighed and followed Grant through the door.

"I _really_ think this is a bad idea," Alex said, standing next to Ava. The storm manipulator was still in a bad mood after Taryn got back together with him, but she appreciated his standing beside her.

"I agree vehemently," Ava said, nodding. "He's been nothing but trouble, and I promise that he's manipulating us into giving him something."

"And I don't want Camille around him. Brother or no, she doesn't need him to put ideas into her head," Alex said.

The professor looked up with determination at the two of them. "I wasn't there for my brother when he needed me."

Ava grimaced, but Alex held onto the argument. "And look where that would've gotten you: under a pile of rubble at Juggernaut's feet."

The professor started to roll towards the door, his mind mulling over Alex's words. "Whether or not that would have been the case, family sometimes needs family. Maybe Archie was just looking for something rewarding in a troubled life: a sense of normalcy. Give him a chance."

And with that, he rolled out of the room, leaving the two of them behind.

* * *

><p>Grant opened the door to the guest room as far away from his as possible. "Here you go. Enjoy. Try not to cause permanent water damage that even Xavier's money can't fix." He was about to walk away when Archie smiled. Genuinely smiled.<p>

The sight caught Grant off-guard. He thought Archie was just some anger-filled brat.

"Well, um, welcome to Mutant Manor…," the golden-skinned boy said as he reached to shut the door. "But just so you know, don't expect to be treated like royalty. This place is rather tough, even for us."

Archie sat his bag down at the foot of the bed. "It can't be that bad, right?"

Grant just smirked and shut the door. "You have no idea what Logan will put you through."

* * *

><p>Rivera tried to go to sleep, but the events of the last hour were bothering her. Camille was sleeping soundly a few feet away, and all it would take is a nudge to wake her up and let her know what was going on. Sadly, she didn't know what was right.<p>

She played Archie's arrival over and over again in her head, thinking of ways to not make it sound so, "Your long lost evil brother that you've barely seen since you got back because he's evil and you've been lost and kidnapped and he's been in foster homes and you've been in fosters homes in France and he's been in foster homes in America and you've been in HYDRA's clutches and he's been living a horrible life and you've been living a worse one but he turned out bad and you turned out good and and and…"

She sighed. Her two clones rattled in her head, the symbols of her subconscious desire and her conscious reason. Maya and Chayce were absolutely driving her up the wall, trying to give her a good reason not to tell Camille and trying to show her why it was a good thing to do.

Eventually, she decided to ignore them. But the thing about having voices in her head, despite her sessions with Xavier to try to remain her level-headed self, is that they _never_ shut up.

_Quit making this about yourself, Rivera, _Chayce would say. _You know this isn't about you. Camille should know right now!_

_Doesn't matter, Chayce,_ Maya argued. _You know that you should just leave it well enough alone, Rivera. Let the girl sleep._

Rivera sighed again, reached her hand around the covers and yanked them off. She strode across the room, turned on the lamp beside the French New Mutant's head, and sat on the edge of her bed. The slight change of Rivera's weight did not wake up the blond girl, but almost as soon as Rivera's hand touched the girl's shoulder, Camille jumped up from the bed.

"Je ne sais rien!" the girl shrieked in French. I don't know anything!

"Shh, shh," Rivera cooed. "It's okay. Your nightmare's over now. Or at least, it depends on your definition of nightmare."

She looked at the cloning girl curiously. "What?"

Rivera took a deep breath before gesturing outside. "About an hour ago, someone broke into the mansion."

"What?" asked Camille, alarmed. Her mind seemed to make a connection that Rivera didn't. "Don't tell me someone's dead! It's not Masato, is it? I swore that boy would do something reckless one day…"

Rivera was alarmed, probably more so than Camille. To think that the girl would automatically think that someone died made her wonder what Camille had been through in her past.

"No! No, it's nothing like that. The junior squad wasn't even involved, which is why you didn't wake up," explained Rivera, and the French girl automatically sighed in relief.

"Well, what happened? Why do you look like someone died?"

"I'm not sure how to say this, but it was Archie. Archie broke into the mansion, wanting to join the X-Men to be with you."

Camille raised a curious eyebrow, but looked a little bit shocked. "Well… why would he want to do that? Last time I checked, I got thrown onto my butt. He doesn't exactly give off a brotherly-love vibe."

Rivera shrugged. "We're not really understanding it either, and we don't understand why Xavier let him join. But I think it's best for you and for your own interests to stay away from him, at least until we know if he's up to anything. Do you know what I mean?"

Camille nodded. "Yes, I understand. Thanks for letting me know."

Rivera smiled in approval before heading back to bed, leaving Camille to her own thoughts. Rivera fell quickly asleep, her two clones finally stopped arguing with her.

* * *

><p>Archie soon found out how bad training could be. He was suited up in the drab uniforms of the New Mutants, with no distinction among the other six mutants. He was sitting next to Camille, but the girl wouldn't give him the time of day. She wouldn't even look at him.<p>

"All systems are go," Alex said, looking at the person next to him in the pilot seat. "Give it a whirl, Reese."

The black-haired boy smiled. "All right. This is kind of exciting."

"Good," the older mutant said, smiling from his green and black uniform. "But take it nice and," the jet suddenly lurched forward, making the others groan, "slow."

It headed down the shoot and into the sky above, and Reese was excited that he was handling it. But only a few moments after it started to arc towards the air did beeps and alarms start to go off, leaving them to their own devices. The jet started to twist and dive towards the sea below, hurtling to their deaths. The words, "fatal error," popped onto the screen.

The simulator suddenly stopped, angled back to the floor of the Danger Room, and opened. Reese was excited and counted it as a victory, and left very quickly to brag a bit to Logan, who was standing outside the simulated vehicle, expecting a bit more from him.

Archie caught up with Camille, who had run out of the simulator faster than everyone else. "Crazy stuff, huh?"

The girl didn't comment, and left with Haley to get a barf bucket together; the two of them didn't do so well when they were away from the earth, even in a simulator. The whole idea of flying didn't appeal to them.

Reese walked away gloomily, and Xavier rolled over to Logan to ask him if he was being hard on the kid. To be honest, Archie always thought Logan was too rough with children, but that was what worked for them. Whatever works, works.

* * *

><p>The next day, they were on the lawn. The training was supposed to be for reacting to projectiles. Ava and Logan were ruthlessly aiming to toughen these guys up.<p>

Camille, once again, was refusing his advances to just be friends with her. Friends first, brother and sister later. But she wouldn't even talk to him. Archie realized that one of the others must have gotten to her. Probably Rivera.

Archie watched the first of the other students do the exercise, Pollen. The green-tinged girl stepped up and stood in front of the launcher, and everyone else backed away from it in case something went wrong.

Saw blades flying through the sky, arcing like deadly Frisbees shot right for the girl. She raised her hands defensively, and to Archie's surprise, two huge, gnarled roots shot out of the ground and deflected them, but the last two still headed right for her.

She screeched as she realized they were going to get her, but a sudden powerful updraft pushed the saw blades upward, and they clattered to the ground ineffectively. She looked toward Ava, thankful that she had saved her, but sad that she failed.

Reese stepped forward and stood at the ready, his hands glowing with purple energy. Kris, who was manning the turrets, pressed a button and the saws sliced through the air again.

Spartan was faster though. He suddenly made a huge discus with purple energy, twisted his whole body, and then hurled the energy disc through the air. The saws stopped, glinting off the disc's surface as soon as they were in contact.

Dissipating the discus, he turned to go back to his place in line before he realized one of those discs still headed for him, and a bolt of pinkish lightning threw the metallic saw into a nearby tree at the last second.

Reese clutched at his neck nervously, passing by as Archie headed up to have his turn.

"Good luck, I guess," Ava muttered. Archie simply ignored her, ready to get this over with.

Before Sparkplug could even turn on the device, Archie whipped out an arm made of liquid, so fast that it was almost too hard to see. The water hit the first saw projectile as it entered the air, and the other three clashed against it so fast that they suddenly fell to the ground.

Satisfied that he passed the test, he looked at Camille and smiled. "See? You have to react fast if you want to win."

Everyone cheered him on, giving him praise. He soaked it up, but she didn't reply to him. Still giving him the cold shoulder, but he could see it in her eyes that she was slowly changing her mind. But Mudslide was taking her time, that's for sure.

* * *

><p>The obstacle course in the Danger Room was filled with turrets and dangerous traps. The objective was simple: reach the finish line while keeping your team intact.<p>

Laser turrets tried to blast the mutants, but an energy harpoon suddenly sprouted from one of them, and Tigress leapt between blasts and slammed her paws against its surface, spinning it into the wall.

Reese tried to rush his team forward, through the dangerous spikes jutting from the floor. Archie clamored over a wall and then sped through an area of hooks and traps. A claw tried to grab at him, but it met liquid instead of his solid human arm. He shrugged it away, reformed, and shot off again, dodging the next three as though they didn't exist.

Haley and Camille were already there, waiting at the finish line. But as he felt the taste of victory, he suddenly tripped and landed with a splash of water against the floor. It was timed well, for where he was standing, there was suddenly a large metal spike-like drill.

He shot as an energy turret was destroyed; his sister was using her ability to cause the gasoline that powered the turret's fire-power to backfire. It exploded and destroyed another next to it, just in time to save Archie from being blasted, even as a puddle.

He reformed suddenly, already at the finish line. He jumped up and down, excited. He thought he even saw a smile forming at her lips, but she quickly shot it down.

From the Control Room, Alex, Ava, and Rivera were watching the celebration on the ground. Ava pressed a button on the Danger Room's console, and said, "Watch this."

A sudden metallic weight, wrapped with padding, twisted from the wall and smacked Archie in the back. He exploded like a water balloon, the wet contents splattering all over his sister.

The others laughed at his plight, and Camille was _not _happy.

* * *

><p>The day was warm, the water fine. Archie was glad: finally, he was in his element. He enjoyed swimming, and his powers were perfectly suited for this kind of exercise.<p>

"Okay, victims, are you ready?" asked Ava.

The way she said it made Archie laugh, but he didn't comment. The four X-Men (Grant, Rivera, Kris, and Alex) that the New Mutants were supposed to rescue were drifting in the deep end of the crystal-clear pool.

At the signal, Jacquelyn morphed into her tiger form and leapt into the water. Aug leapt into the water and quickly swam across. Camille and Reese watched as Archie and Masato jumped into the water as well.

Archie swam faster than the rest, automatically going for Rivera, his closest treading X-Man…err, X-Woman.

Rivera didn't comment as he pulled her along with his hydrokinesis, halfway lifting her into the air by strengthening his hold on her with water. He propelled himself along, feeling his lower body meld with the swimming pool. It was as though he _was_ the water.

He was nearly to the pool's side, almost ready to lift Rivera out of the water. He felt so powerful in the pool. It was such a rush that he realized he could probably save them all, before any of the others could try.

He extended his control, trying to focus on every inch of water in pool. It was like putting his hand into a glass of water though, and some of it spilled over. He had his eyes closed so tightly that he didn't realize something went horribly wrong until he heard Camille's scream.

He opened his eyes and the water that he had tried to lift dropped into the pool, and the rescuers and the victims alike. But when Echo was still face down in the water, he realized that something was horribly wrong.

What had he done?

Ava blew the whistle and everyone stopped pretending they couldn't save themselves and tried to save Rivera. Grant yanked her to the side of the pool with his stretching ability, like a yo-yo or a rubber band. Ava, Camille, and Reese yanked her unconscious form onto the sidewalk.

Archie didn't move from his spot in the pool. He couldn't think about what was happening, and his only thoughts were thinking of what Camille would think of him if he had killed Rivera.

"There's water in her lungs! She's drowning from the inside!" Wolverine exclaimed, pumping the girl's chest.

The word "water" seemed to break Archie's reverie. Faster than he ever thought he could, the boy was suddenly sitting on the sidewalk beside Rivera, and he shoved Alex out of the way.

Holding his hand over the unconscious girl's mouth, he concentrated. Concentrated hard on saving the girl's life. Focused on doing some good for once with these powers he developed.

Water slowly started to drift from her open mouth, and an impossibly long moment passed where more and more tendrils of phantom liquid was yanked by Archie's mental hook.

Finally, as he was sure the last of it was out of there, Wolverine performed CPR and began giving her his air. For a moment, everything was too quiet. Before finally, Rivera coughed and reawakened, not sure of what exactly happened.

Archie was pleased, but when he smiled, Ava shot him a death glare. "Don't even bother that routine."

"B-but I saved her life?" he questioned.

Logan grunted. "She was in this mess because you tried to save everyone. It was a team exercise, and despite all that, you expected too much of yourself. You pulled her under while your eyes were closed, and it was too much for her body to handle."

Archie frowned. "But I didn't mean to-"

"We know you didn't mean to do it, kid," Logan replied.

"But that doesn't mean that you didn't," Alex finished.

Archie glared at them all, but shot a questioning look at Camille. The girl was so concerned with her friend's well-being that she didn't meet his gaze. But he didn't see the tiny bit of a smile on her face as he turned and left, angry.

* * *

><p>The next couple of days after the Pool Incident, as it had so kindly been dubbed, was pretty much lax. Nothing else of consequence happened for Archie, and it was smooth sailing, for the most part.<p>

Most of them had forgiven him, but some of the senior squad pretty much still hated him for what happened… although, they had hated him pretty astutely before, so it was probably worse now.

Camille still ignored him. Of course. He could feel her watching him, and he had managed to strike up a conversation with the girl once, but the now-recovered Echo showed up at the worst possible moment. It didn't go any farther than small talk.

Do you even realize how difficult it is to talk about the weather when they have two weather controlling mutants? That's the perfect way to strike up a conversation, but it just is a moot point if Tempest or Storm are in ear-shot. It pretty much defeats any kind of purpose and kills the talking before it can start.

He sighed, walking with Masato, Aug, and Reese to his jeep, located in the garage. He liked Masato okay; in some ways, the two were kindred spirits because Archie realized that the Japanese boy didn't necessarily agree with everything the bald guy says. Aug never shuts up, and Reese is too… goody-goody; a stick in the mud really. But these three had been the first to connect with him after the Pool Incident, and he figured he could hang with them so far.

As the garage opened, his gaze drifted to Ava's convertible. It was a gun-metal gray, basically the same color as her very… revealing uniform. It was a Porscha (how the girl could afford something like this, he'd never know).

But something was not quite right with it today. Dings, scratches, and mud covered the entire thing. A mirror was torn off, and dents covered the whole front of the vehicle, like it had been wrecked a few times.

Ava and Alex took that moment to make themselves known and entered the garage, talking about some school garbage they had to work on. Archie smiled.

"Nice ride, Tempest."

He sat in the front seat of his jeep as Ava started a temper tantrum, angrily shaking her fist.

"What in the world?" Thunder boomed over head, and dark clouds seemed to gather at her every whim.

"You should probably work on that anger problem you've got there," Archie said with a grin as he drove off.

Ava shot him a fiery glare that Archie enjoyed thoroughly. He enjoyed getting under people's skin. Serves them right for always getting under his.

* * *

><p>He smiled as the bell rang to finally let him out of class. He waved goodbye to Masato, the only New Mutant kid old enough to be in high school, and then headed down the hall.<p>

As soon as he turned the corner, a surprisingly strong force shoved him against a locker. It was all he could do not to splash in front of everyone.

"Long time, no see, Jones," Lily Creed said with almost a growl. The Brotherhood members stood

"What _have_ you been up to?" asked Jade, a curious grin on her somewhat flawless face. That girl was so carefree and generally bad that it kind of threw him for a loop.

"Let go of me, Furball," Archie threatened.

Astoria smiled. "So it turns out that something really _crazy_ is happening."

"Crazier than your creepy grin?"

The girl smiled tighter, bearing her teeth in disgust. "Probably not. So what's with this rumor of you leaving us to join the dorks?"

"I mean, that's not exactly your style," Tristan added. "But, I guess, when your sister is involved…"

Archie suddenly realized something, something that he had not asked the boy about before. "Wait a second, Arsenal. Did you know anything about Camille getting kidnapped by HYDRA?"

He was actually afraid of the answer.

* * *

><p>Camille was sure of it. Sure that the word had been spoken. She turned away quickly, knowing all that she needed to know: Tristan was the guy that Archie mentioned, the guy who had been a part of HYDRA.<p>

Her teeth clenched tightly as she headed to her own locker, her mind racing to the things that she saw while in "captivity." The things they made her do with her abilities. The explosion that no doubt freed her, but could have hurt innocent people.

No. Those HYDRA scientists were not innocent. And it was even worse when someone from the Mutant Division met up with her, and she saw what they were trying to mold her into. When she had met them, she had cursed them and had sworn to never end up like them.

To learn that Archie knew someone who was involved with them… that brought up options, options that she wanted to try. Surely Xavier would back her on a quest for vengeance.

No. He wouldn't endorse it. Logan might, and she could probably convince Keiko that it was for a good purpose. But Beast and Xavier were too… idealistic.

She suddenly stopped, her heart whipping at her brain. Was she actually considering stooping to HYDRA's level? Was she going to murder them, like they murdered people whom they were, "trying to train to be like you?" She wanted to run to the bathroom and wretch at the even thought of it. It made her skin crawl.

And yet, Tristan was there. A source of information, possibly a way to reach the organization. Possibly a way to choke them from the inside out…

* * *

><p>Archie listened to Tristan, soaking in the information. "I was aware that there were mutants being sold to HYDRA for testing. I was nearly one of them, but I joined the Mutant Division before the scientists could lay their hands on me."<p>

"So what do you know about her? About what she went through?"

"Nothing, except that I vaguely remember hearing about an explosion she caused and escaping," Tristan said. "I never heard if she stayed gone or not, but I guessed she did. I always assumed she had been killed."

Archie thought for a moment. "Do you know where she was being held?"

Tristan shook his head. "No, why would you want to know?"

The hydrokinetic shrugged.

* * *

><p>Reese drove quietly and quickly out of the lawn, enjoying the idea of doing something fun. Something dangerous. Sure, Logan would find out. As he always does. But it would be fun now, bad later.<p>

Haley cheered, letting out a side of them they hadn't heard before. The X-Van was massive, and the idea of taking something that big and scary out for a joyride was quite exhilarating. Masato and Jacquelyn didn't know what they were missing, but the two had tests the next day.

"Man, this is definitely fun," Reese said excitedly. "Check this out, guys!"

He lifted an arm out the window and created a long purple spear. He angled it and hit it on the back of stop sign, piercing through the metal as though it were cheep plastic.

The tension in the spear rose, and it bent, like a pogo stick. When he finally made the spear disappear, the force made the tires squeal and the X-Van lurched to the right and hit a tall curb with enough force to scrape a huge gash in the side.

"Whoo-hoo!" Aug yelled. He looked down at the controls, a curious expression on his face. "I wonder what this one does?"

The button mashed, but nothing seemed to happen. The resulting explosion that rang out in the lake was drowned out by the powerful engine.

"That didn't do anything," Reese said, as though pointing out the obvious. "Try them all!"

Once the switches, knobs, and buttons were all pressed, the New Mutants were more than a little upset. What in the world was the use of an armored X-Van if it didn't do anything?

* * *

><p>The New Mutants were all assembled in the wee-hours of the morning, following Logan and Ava into the hangar.<p>

The beautiful black jet was sitting in the hangar, just waiting to fly. An amused Grant was scrubbing down the jet, reaching places that normal people couldn't by wrapping his arms and legs all around it, morphing his body into shapes that could conveniently wash down the jet more than a long mop could.

Logan began a long discussion about the X-Jet, one that to be honest, Archie wasn't really listening to. He was busy watching Spartan, Spindle, and Pollen because they seemed to be so out of it and exhausted. Did it have something to do with them going downstairs last night?

"Does this mean we're going to fly the real thing?" Camille asked, already woozy from the experience.

"Yeah. That'll happen," Logan muttered, leading the way.

* * *

><p>"Let's try something a<em> little<em> smaller," Wolverine said, opening the garage door. He gestured inside. "Like the X-Van."

Archie heard a few gasps from the crowd, before he gasped himself. The X-Van was a mess. Worse than what happened to Ava's convertible, which was now being repaired in a shop thanks to Xavier.

"Wha-? What happened to the van?" asked Logan incredulously.

As if on cue, the tires suddenly popped the entire thing dropped to the ground, a hubcap rolling away.

Ava walked up and grimaced. "I'll give you three guesses as to who it was, and I'll bet that you'll only need one." She looked pointedly at Archie.

* * *

><p>Archie was suddenly awoken with a shake to his shoulder. He opened his eyes groggily, trying to decipher why anyone was waking him up at this ungodly hour.<p>

"Huh?"

"Archie, it's me, Haley," the girl before him said. He realized that it was Haley, Reese, and Augustus again. "We're going on another joyride. Are you in?"

"Heck, they'll give you the blame anyway…," Aug supplied persuasively.

Archie rolled his eyes. "Nope. Leave me alone, I'm in enough trouble!"

The three walked out of the room, but as Haley shut the door, she commented, "Hey, you'll regret this. We're taking something bigger and faster."

Archie sat still for a couple minutes before he suddenly shot up. "The X-Jet!"

He rushed down the hall and bumped into someone. He splashed to the ground and landed in a puddle of muck. He found it rather hard to reform, but after a moment, he pulled himself together a few feet away.

The huge puddle of brown sludge, like mud was laying on the ground, moving on its own. After a long, hard moment, the figure reformed.

Camille stared down at her hands in shock, taken aback that she had turned into mud. "How did I-? That's n-never happened before…"

"Doesn't matter!" Archie said quietly. "The other kids… they're taking the X-Jet for a joyride!"

Her eyes widened. "Okay, let's get the others… I'll bet that R-"No time!" He dragged her by her hand down the stairs, at this point not caring to be quiet.

They reached the hangar just in time to see the X-Jet powering up. The ladder was still down from the opening on the side; probably a mistake from Reese while he's piloting the thing.

"C'mon!" Archie yelled rushing up to the stairs. Right as they got close, the Blackbird started to move, heading down the runway that would lead outside.

Archie reached it, but Camille was still behind him, lagging. Gripping the handrails, he stuck out his hand and she finally grabbed it. He smiled as he yanked her up the stairs and into the jet.

* * *

><p>"All right!" Haley yelled excitedly, fully expecting that they would crash and burn before they even really got started. But Reese held the controls well and angled towards the brilliantly lit city.<p>

It cruised somewhat steadily in the spaces between the buildings, and they couldn't help but wonder what anyone who saw the jet flying in a city would think. They'd probably freak out.

"Angle towards the sky! No need to make people think 9-11," Aug said with a grimace.

Reese pulled up and put the jet into overdrive, the pure g-force grabbing at them and holding them tight. They ascended high into the sky, and only a quick reminder from his memory of lessons made Reese straighten up; if they went too high, the engines would seize.

Someone behind them cleared their throat. Reese was so startled at as he was pushing the lever that made the jet thrust, it shot forward and was lodged in place. The jet seriously picked up speed very quickly.

"You guys are _so_ dead," Camille said with a tone that reminded Archie of a parent. "Turn this thing around." She looked queasy, but determined.

"I can't," Reese said, pulling on the lever. "The propulsion system is stuck! We're going too fast, too quickly!"

Aug nodded, but tried to pull on the lever. "I'll try to fix it."

Camille didn't see the point in arguing and pressed the radio-call button. "X-Jet to Base! X-Jet to Base!" No response. Of course, they were still asleep. But it didn't exactly seem like the radio was even working.

"One of these buttons has got to do something!" Reese said, pressing a switch. No visible changes happened, but as they broke through the clouds, two dark objects seemed to be flying ahead very fast.

"Patrol One-Zero-Niner to unknown aircraft! You are travelling in restricted air-space. Identify yourselves!"

Reese was shocked. "We're so dead…"

Archie suddenly stepped up, sitting between Aug and Reese. "Look, I'm taking control for now. They can't think we're enemies. Is this the PA system?" He pressed another button, but to their dismay, missiles that they didn't even know the jet had were suddenly shot toward the two oncoming fighter jets.

The jets pulled away fast enough, and the missiles collided into a cliff face, exploding and filling the air with smoke and rubble.

But as the jets pulled around, something suddenly blipped onto the radar. Aug looked up, alarmed. "Missiles! I've got 'em!"

He opened the hatch and immediately rose halfway up into the air. He held out both arms and immediately started to spin them around and around, in the direction of the oncoming missiles. Faster and faster he spun, generating a huge column of rotating air aimed carefully. Clouds were drawn into it, making the small vortex visible. As soon as the rockets hit the spinning air, they were thrown off course, and both of them crashed into the ground below.

He lowered into the jet once more, just in time to hear the engines stop. "What?"

"The propulsion's cut!" exclaimed Reese, trying to recover it.

"We're going to die!" yelled Haley. But then she had an idea. "Camille, can you get fuel into the starter?"

Camille thought about it. "I can try." She concentrated, despite the rapidly dropping jet putting pressure on her. She thought about the fuel lines and finally, the gasoline backed up and she hit the starter hard, propelling the engine forward again.

Reese yanked up and the jet finally rose, but they weren't out of the woods yet. More fighter jets suddenly appeared.

"Oh, we've got hostiles!" Aug yelled, even more worried than before.

Reese smirked and dropped the jet into a valley filled with trees. It was almost like a canyon by how narrow it was, but there was lots of plant-life everywhere.

More missiles, this time obviously heat seekers, were fired from the opposing jets. Reese shot a look at Pollen. "Now!"

Haley nodded and withdrew into herself, focusing on the plants around her. She tweaked them carefully and quickly, and roots, vines, and branches suddenly shot up and around, forming a solid wall. She thickened it and placed the densest parts in front of the missiles, and they exploded into the plant wall.

"Keep it up! Make it hard for them to follow!" Archie urged, and Pollen understood. She applied more focus and it seemed like the entire valley was bursting with life as they travelled, huge trees expanding and becoming even larger. The jets veered off course, and for a moment, it seemed as though they were okay.

The jet veered towards the ocean, but as they broke away from the valley, so did the enemies.

Archie suddenly had an idea. "Aim for the water! Just do it!"

Reese acted like he was crazy, but he shot the younger boy a look and Reese did what he said. Archie focused hard on the ocean waves, preparing for the worst.

"We're all going to die. Again. More and more," Aug muttered, never quite shutting up. But Archie blocked it out and focused.

"What are you going to do?" Camille asked, worry evident in her voice.

"Just wait and find out," Archie said. He turned to Reese while keeping his attention on the water rapidly approaching. "When we dive under, I'm going to need you to straight out as soon as we go about thirty yards under. Any more, and I won't be able to handle the pressure."

Reese was bewildered, but he nodded.

As soon as they were about to hit the water, it suddenly split open like a bowl and the jet dove. The bubble closed up very quickly, concealing the fighter jets above.

"Oh, god, oh, god!" Aug cried.

They were fine. Archie kept the still moving jet in a bubble of water. But it was too much for anything long term, but at least the jet could be slowed down. When they were certain that the jets were gone, way out of range, Archie signaled for Reese to rise.

They came out of the ocean very quickly and shot back toward the mansion. The hydrokinetic plopped into a seat, way too tired to think. He was glad though, that Camille sat next to him of her own accord.

* * *

><p>The professor, Ava, Alex, and Logan stared at the nasty jet, not understanding what in the world was happening.<p>

Ava shot over to Archie, who standing next to Camille. "You took it for another joyride, didn't you?"

Archie thought for a split second and realized that no matter what, it wasn't going to end well for him. Not while he was at the X-Men. The Brotherhood's words came back to haunt him…

Camille opened her mouth to reply, but he cut her off. "Yeah. I did it. What are you going to do about it?"

Ava got into his face, but they both turned in surprise when Reese, Haley, and Aug walked into the room. "No, we did it, Xavier," Spartan said, taking the blame.

"Who's we?" asked Logan with a grimace.

"Yeah, it was us," Haley admitted. "Archie was only trying to stop us. We took the X-Van too."

"And Ava's car."

"And your motorcycle."

Logan growled, his eyes widening. "You took… my motorcycle?"

"Just kidding!" Aug yelled. "Seriously, just kidding." They laughed uneasily, but Wolverine wasn't amused.

The professor suddenly rolled forward. "Well, luckily, there's been no official mention of the incident. The military must believe that it was a UFO sighting, so they are no doubt covering it up."

The door to the hangar suddenly opened, revealing Grant dressed in grungy cleaning clothes. He had a couple of rags and a bucket filled with soapy water in his hands, but as he saw the display before him, he dropped the contents of both hands.

"Wow," he looked up at the dirty jet, hating the fact that it was his last day for jet duty. "You guys are dumb. Am I going to clean that?" He shot a look to the obviously guilty party.

"It's all right, Grant," Xavier said. "Consider your week on jet duty over." Grant cheered as the telepath turned to the New Mutants who were responsible. "Your jet duty is just beginning, as well as three weeks on probation."

They groaned, but headed to clean it up anyways.

Ava turned to look at Archie. "I guess we should… apologize. I'm sorry."

"Me too," Alex added. "We haven't been treating you very fairly."

Archie shrugged it off, Jade's warning that the X-Geeks would never accept them on his mind. "Don't worry about it. I'm out of here."

He stalked off, but Xavier interrupted him. "Archie, we're sorry. It's been a challenging transition for us all."

Camille looked at him sadly. "Please stay. I want to get to know you."

He shrugged her off. "No. I think I'd rather deal with the constant bickering of the Brotherhood than having to deal with all of you not trusting me when I'm supposed to be on your team. It's easier this way." Archie shot a careful look to his sister. "I'm sorry. For what happened that first night."

Camille knew what he was referring to, and he sounded sincere. But he was heading right back to the team that made him do it in the first place.

She watched solemnly as he entered the elevator and the door shut carefully behind him.

* * *

><p><strong>All right, another one down. Quite a few more to go! :D<strong>

**BTW, for next chapter, you'll need to take a good look at some events that happened in Cauldron. Remember that cliff-hanger that I left off with? Well, this is finally coming full-circle for the next chapter or two. So stay tuned!**


	29. On Angel's Wings: Away in a Creator

**On Angel's Wings:**  
><strong>Away in a Creator<strong>

The air was cold, dashing bits of snow flurries throughout the well-lit city. Christmas decorations, candlelight, and huge evergreen trees draped with garland filled the plazas and shops. One girl sat on the front steps, her ever-present guardian with her.

She looked at the boy next to her, with his red and black attire and toboggan covering his wolf-like ears. She smiled at the boy, but he didn't smile back. But she knew what he felt: nothing.

But that was a different story for a different time. For now, the young girl just wanted to think about the time of year.

But things almost went out of hand when she suddenly saw a fire truck rushing by, and the sound of panicked voices. She looked at Wolfie, and the boy followed her on her whim. The girl ran through concerned passersby, covered with heavy coats and gloves; it made her miss the West Coast weather.

An apartment building was on fire, smoke billowing from the windows and shrouding the streets with darkness. The moonlight couldn't pierce it, but the fire created plenty of light.

Standing on the opposite street, she looked at Wolfie, always next to her. "Hmm, I should probably send you in there. But you aren't good for fires…"

Her imagination, as if on cue and by itself, began to whir. A tiny, human-like body with small wings made of bright white feathers. Smoke resistant and heat resistant… no, a protective aura of gold light. A feeling of selfless need to save others from pain and suffering. Strong enough to carry someone heavy, more than twice its weight.

Satisfied that that was all she'd need, she felt the telepathic link solidify and yet another voice inside her head appeared. Instantly, with a bright white light as if from above, a tiny creature only a couple of feet tall appeared. It was glowing with golden hues and its wings were so lustrous that the entire crowd seemed to forget about the fire and was focused on the angelic being she had created.

Ashley stared at the nearly emotionless creature as it dove into the window of the burning apartment and almost immediately thereafter, it flew out with an older woman in tow. It dropped to the ground and sat the old woman next to her daughter, who was yelling and screaming with delight.

The angel disappeared from sight.

But not from Ashley's mind.

As the girl walked away with Wolfie at her side, she heard the old woman say, "It was an angel. A miracle!"

* * *

><p>The cheer was palpable at the mansion, where the holiday party was in full swing. They had it early this year since some of the kids would be joining their families for the holidays, like Kris and Masato were heading back to Japan to visit their families, and Alex was heading with Ava to visit with her parents in California, since he had none and Ava wouldn't take no for an answer. Grant's dad had made big plans to go hiking with Grant, but after the last time, no one really wanted to risk tagging along with the father-son duo. Aug and Reese were joining Masato, and Haley was going to join Storm and her family in Africa. Rivera's dad had cancelled his plans, so she was planning on staying at the mansion with some of the younger students.<p>

Everyone was busy talking and having a good time, exchanging gifts and surprising everyone with their choices. In fact, the Institute girls had been dragged over by Ava to one of the big couches in front of the fireplace, with boxes in tow.

"Now, they aren't much, I promise. But I've been saving up for quite a long time for the perfect things! I just know that you're going to love them!"

Ava handed Haley her gift first, and when she ripped open the wrapping paper, she smiled cheerfully. "Wow! This is great!" It was a necklace with a green six-petaled flower pendent. She put it on immediately, before grinning with admiration.

Camille was next, opening the box to reveal her own necklace, but this time, it was a pendant of her name, written in calligraphy. She pulled it on immediately. "Thanks so much!"

Jacquelyn smiled as she tore open her own, and hers was essentially a white tiger-striped scarf. "Oh this is so awesome!" She wrapped it around. "Do I look _good?"_

Ava laughed. "Yes, of course. You all look wonderful."

Rivera was about to open hers, but Ava stopped her. "I think yours was the hardest to figure out, but once I did, I was hoping that you'd like it."

She tore open the green box and immediately smiled. It was a matching necklace, bracelet, and ring set. All were shaped like a triangle, each colored a different color: white, black, and gray.

"It's great! I love it! You are so thoughtful!"

Ava beamed. "Well, you know, I do try…." They all laughed, but when Ava looked down at the last box she had, Rivera grinned knowingly.

"Go on. He's not going to wait all night for you, you know."

Ava blushed before jumping up and heading over to Alex. The boy was laughing with the other boys, but she pulled him away from the crowd very quickly. They stood near the fireplace.

"Are you looking forward to meeting my parents? I know they can be pretty stuffy sometimes, and other times, their stuffy, but I think you'll like them. At the very least, they'll like you," Ava said.

Alex seemed a little pre-occupied, but Ava figured it was nerves. He always got nervous around girls. She was astutely aware of it. "You think so? I'm definitely looking forward to it."

She nodded, before bringing out the last gift-wrapped box she had to give. "All right, I got something for you. I figured I'd give it to you now, instead of waiting for later."

He smiled nervously. "Well… um, I don't have anything for you just yet…"

She shrugged it off. "Don't worry, I'm sure there will be plenty of jewelry stores out West. Now, can you open it already?"

He tore open the package with a grin, which widened when he opened it up. It was a picture frame decorated with green and black, and inside the frame was a picture that Ava forced Alex to take the first day he arrived at the Institute, all those months ago.

"I remember this," he said with a blush.

"I hoped you would. That was a fun day. Logan couldn't wait to get a big guy like you into the Danger Room. But at least you didn't blow it up like the first time Kris used it."

He laughed, closing his eyes for just a bit. He felt a tickling on his nose and his eyes shot open. A branch of mistletoe was between them suddenly, held up by a familiar golden arm, stretched all the way across the room. Both Alex and Ava blushed with embarrassment, but Grant didn't move his arm.

"Should you do it, or should I?" Alex asked.

She gestured ahead. "By all means."

Alex raised his right hand slowly, reaching as if to brush the mocha hair out of Ava's eyes. It seemed like the room froze as everyone watched. But Alex suddenly grinned, twisted his wrist, and a tiny spark of green energy shot out and hit Grant's wrist.

The other boys died out laughing as the nerdy kid yanked his arm away, rubbing his wrist.

"That'll teach him," Alex said, before looking down at the picture once more.

Ava laughed.

* * *

><p>Rivera, Jacquelyn, and Camille watched as their friends left the house, waving goodbye. They stood on the front steps as Ororo and Wolverine drove off and to the airport, where everyone would split from there. They smiled cheerfully, dressed in their warmest clothes on such an snowy day, but it was still sad to see them go.<p>

Beast and Keiko stood behind them, along with the Professor in his chair. "Who wants to help the Professor, Keiko, and me install Cerebro's new security upgrades?"

As the three of them walked back inside, the students remained where they were, looking at the angel fountain and watching the cars drive through the gate. "I guess that's their idea of a fun holiday," Rivera murmured, grinning as she rolled her eyes.

Jacquelyn and Camille laughed. "Yeah, guess so. Why don't we go and help, and then maybe we can grab a cup of hot cocoa?" suggested the youngest of the three.

"Sure, why not?" Rivera agreed. As Jacquelyn headed inside, Echo turned to Mudslide. "Hey, are you sure you're okay? It's only been a couple weeks since Archie left."

Camille hesitated far too long for Rivera to think she was okay, but eventually, the French girl replied, "Yeah. It's not so much him leaving that bothers me. If I wanted to go and see him, he's only across town."

The two girls headed back inside, talking as they walked. "But something is bothering you."

Camille nodded. "It's my powers, Rivera. Something happened that night. I bumped into him, and somehow, I fell into a mud puddle."

Rivera looked at her quizzically. "A mud puddle? Why was there a mud puddle in the hallway?"

She shook her head. "No, not _in_ the hallway. I _was_ the mud puddle." To demonstrate, Camille held up her hand and made it slowly turn into a murky, earth slop. But she couldn't keep it together, and some of her hand fell to the floor.

Rivera gasped, but Camille sighed, lowering her practically melting hand to the floor, where it was dropping. Concentrated, she reformed her hand without any problems, but it took far too long.

"Why? I mean, what does the professor think? Or Keiko, or Beast?"

"I know what they will say, so why bother? My brother has similar abilities, and it's perfectly normal. Genetics, I suppose. But the hardest thing about it is how hard it is to get back together, and it keeps getting worse. I'm afraid that if I turn my whole self into mud, I won't be able to go back," she said with such sadness that Rivera threw her arm around the girl. She duplicated herself and soon there were three girls holding her, warming her up.

"I promise everything is going to be okay. But you have to promise me something," Rivera said. When Camille agreed, she continued, "Please, you have to tell Xavier. Maybe it's not normal. When I first got here, I didn't tell Xavier about how my clones-" she gestured to Chayce and Maya, "-had voices in my head all the time. Do you know how hard it is trying to think with two people arguing? But he taught me these exercises I can do which calm my nerves, help me sleep at night. Maybe he or one of the other teachers can come up with something to help you."

The French girl smiled. "I promise. But after the holidays. I don't want anyone to worry."

Rivera nodded. "Okay. Now, let's get down there to Cerebro. We need to at least appear to be helping, since Jackie's already down there."

The two girls laughed, knowing they didn't want to be on the receiving end of the tiger's claws.

* * *

><p>The girl sat next to Wolfie, breathing in the air of Central Park. She looked down at the newspaper headline, and cursed. He wasn't going to be happy with her. Not at all.<p>

What was she supposed to have done? Let the girl live without her mother?

No. She refused. She was under strict orders to maintain a low profile, but she just couldn't. Not anymore.

The din in her head rose, her creations trying to burst from her mind. Some of them were dark, mysterious, created when she was in a bad place in life. Others were cheerful, happy, light. Like the angel that had christened the front newspaper in bold letters.

Wolfie was the only one she truly could appreciate. He was her first, created when she first received her powers. She was obsessed with one of those anime shows, and wanted to create a wolf-hybrid on her own. So, she sat down and started to write. And draw. She clearly pictured the wolf-man in her mind. She still had his first drawings, kept close and dear to her. The goofy looking flames around his mouth were so annoying to her now, probably why the flames Wolfie sometimes breathed looked cartoony.

Wolfie was her first creation. Her first, and possibly only, success story. Ashley remembered the first few days after she drew out his profile, how she would get a twinge in her mind. A whisper in her head. But she had pushed it away, not really thinking it was a big deal.

Her parents had taken her to the doctors only a few days after the idea of Wolfie was expressed on paper. Long before anything like this happened, her parents had begun to wonder about her. About her sanity.

Ashley clenched the newspaper in her hand, but she couldn't stop thinking back, reminiscing.

She had been diagnosed soon after with bipolar disorder. To learn that she was crazy definitely screwed with her mind. She had gone home, angry with everything. Angry with parents. With her doctors. With the world.

And then, Wolfie was there. Somehow, it was like he had jumped from the pages, exactly as she had pictured him in her head. She hadn't understood what. But somehow, by some miracle, the wolf boy was standing in front of her. Ready to comfort her.

For those first couple of days, she felt the connection with him. He calmed her down, calmed her mind.

But she was still angry. She refused to take her medicine, and soon enough, she sat at her desk and realized that she could do it again. She could create something again, like she had Wolfie.

It was a decision that she would ALWAYS regret. For the rest of her life.

The newspaper was rolled up, clenched and dented in her hand with her fingers. Wolfie suddenly took it from her and threw it away, before offering his hand.

_Ashley, please, don't cry. I'm sad when you cry._

She smiled, but the dark creations within her mind suddenly grew angry with her, shouting obscenities for sealing them away. She suddenly felt disoriented, but it was just the rush. The rush of thoughts and feelings that were not hers, but came from her.

"I know you are, Wolfie. Don't worry."

She paused when she heard something, and Wolfie looked around and sniffed. When she saw through a break in the trees something going on, she walked closer to investigate.

It was a man fighting with another man over a briefcase. The mugger grabbed it and the victim was thrown to the ground. "Hey, help me! He stole it!"

Ashley looked at Wolfie and immediately realized she had to do something.

_Do you want me to go?_

She shook her head. "No. I'll send the new one. Create some more press. I figure if I'm going to get in trouble already, I may as well be in real trouble."

The half-bird, half-boy suddenly appeared, looking like a tiny angel flying in the sky, an aura of light around his body. She felt Wolfie disappear, as she couldn't keep more than one out if it hasn't been a full day since she used multiple creations. She didn't like that he was gone; she honestly felt a bit naked without him, despite her heavy attire.

The angel dove and dipped, showing off a bit before heading right for the mugger. The angel dropped out of the sky like a bird of prey, feet out like talons. The feet collided, and the thug was thrown almost twenty feet away, digging a trench through the snow. The briefcase was thrown from his hands, landing several yards away.

She made the creation dive once more, grab the mugger around the middle, and then hang the man from a flagpole. The mugger shouted things like, "Oh, I'll go to church! I'll read my bible!" But the angel didn't care about religion. Neither did Ashley.

The angel flew back down, grabbed the briefcase and deposited it on the ground next to the victim, who was by this time standing next to a police officer on a horse. They were in amazement by the cherub saving them, and as the angel flew out of sight, she recalled him back to her mind before he could get free.

She didn't want to fight that battle. Her creations could get out of hand if she let them, and having an angel running amok through the city could be difficult.

But as the girl pulled up her collar, feeling like she was too exhausted to re-summon Wolfie, she walked away. Unaware of the man with white hair following her, staying unnoticed.

* * *

><p>The girls were enjoying their hot chocolate when something came on the news that was very interesting. Jacquelyn turned up the volume just in time to hear the news report begin.<p>

"In a story with a great holiday twist, a mugging was apparently thwarted in Central Park today by an angel," the reporter cut to a clip of a man with a brown mousy beard talking to police. "Eyewitnesses claim a tiny winged man flew down from the sky, capturing the alleged thief."

The report cut to an interview, held earlier this morning. An older woman was sitting on a couch with what looked to be her daughter. "His wings were so beautiful, and his body literally glowed with gold light. I've never seen anything like it."

The clip cut off, and the news reporter came back. She talked to an expert on UFO sightings, and he said that these things are told by word of mouth and are transformed over time, leading people to believe irrational things.

Before they could ask, Wolverine suddenly appeared at the doorway. "Everyone, come back down to the sublevels. It's urgent."

They followed him with confused faces, wondering if this was all related to what they had seen on television. When they entered the Cerebro room, Xavier was sitting with his head under the helmet, analyzing a profile on the console before him. Or at least, what should have been a profile. Instead, it was buzzing with static, but a strangely feminine shape was secured on the panel. Hank and Keiko watched over his shoulder, concerned.

"Children, we need to investigate this. It's… urgent, we think," Xavier said, turning to them. "I can't seem to get any more information, but Cerebro has analyzed this and hit interference. It's a signature, possibly a strong one."

"Level five?" asked Rivera. "Could it be Dean?"

Xavier shook his head. "I don't think this mutant is Dean, nor do I think she's a level five. But, I'd like to send you three into New York City to investigate. We think it could be related to these reports of an angel."

"So you don't think this is religion?" asked Jackie.

Xavier shook his head. "No, I don't think so. It's very clearly a mutant, but Cerebro is out of commission again. Some sort of psychic interference. But I fear that his activities will alert the public about the existence of mutants." He paused. "Perhaps we could recruit her."

Camille, Rivera, and Jackie were just excited to be going into the city. "Yes! That sounds great, professor," Jackie said suddenly, realizing that the shopping could be kind of fun there.

Xavier looked at her with a sly grin, one a parent might give to his child. "Shopping is not quite the point of this trip, Miss Devereaux."

She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Professor. Sometimes I forget that you are a telepath…"

"That's quite all right. Now, you three go and get ready. Hank, could you compile a list of all the angel sightings, with addresses and phone numbers. That should give these three a place to start."

Hank nodded, and soon, the three girls were off.

* * *

><p>They visited the home of the first sighting, the woman who had been saved from a fire. But it provided no other evidence besides what they knew. They scoured the streets and were nearly clobbered to death by a man holding an "Angels are among us!" poster, and they quickly walked as far from him as possible. They visited the man who was saved from the mugging, and listened to a grandiose story about golden white wings. But they had heard it before.<p>

Finally, as the sun was setting, the three young mutants entered a small diner and ordered coffee. When they finally got a quick steaming cup, they sipped them and the warmth spread through their bodies.

"That definitely tastes so good," Camille said with a smile. "My foster dad makes the best coffee you can imagine, but this place is a close second."

"Very good," Rivera agreed. "It's so cold out there."

Jackie smiled, thinking over everything that they had learned and not learned today. "You have to admit, this angel guy sounds really cool."

Rivera nodded. "But I mean, in a city with this many people, how can we possibly find him? What if he can just make himself look like anyone?"

"I'm more concerned with the girl Cerebro saw. How is she connected with all of this? She's probably going to be harder to find than the short glowing man with white wings," Camille explained, taking another sip.

"I'm just glad that we got out of the Institute. I mean, think about it: we're in New York City during Christmas! It's nearly as good as Paris during Christmas."

Camille shook her head as though throwing off pain. Rivera gave her a quizzical look. Camille smiled. "I just don't like big cities. They're so… unclean. Too busy."

"Not me," Jackie said. "Give me a city any day. It's better than cornfields."

Camille shrugged. She happened to like growing crops, reminding her of her aunt's farmhouse.

"Do either of you think that this angel could be… I don't know, real?" Rivera asked.

Her question seemed to shock the other two, but it was quickly erased. "I don't know. I've always believed in God, but sometimes, it's human nature to be skeptical," Camille explained. "At least, that's what I think."

Jackie agreed, but brought her voice down to a whisper. "Yeah. But even if this angel is just some kind of mutant, most people won't think of it that way. These angel sightings are probably giving them hope. Everyone needs something to believe in."

Rivera nodded, agreeing. She could see the appeal in the idea that the angel was real, and Jacquelyn was right: the public saw this as possibly the real deal. Sure, the mutants who were aware might know better. But for the general person, it was something… more than they are. Something tangible, like proof.

* * *

><p>A man stood atop the Brooklyn Bridge, feeling his body being blow by the cold breeze. He watched as a girl who could only be sixteen was walking along the bike path. Why, he didn't know. He had been following her for a while. Not really knowing who she was, only that she was powerful. Very powerful.<p>

Deciding to test her, he suddenly threw out his hands. A delivery van driving down the road towards the city suddenly swerved at his beckoning, and before he knew it, there was a pile up happening as the van struck another car. Like a domino effect, several cars were suddenly crashed and stood still, but one SUV swerved and hit the suspension ropes, held back and dangling by the cables.

He saw the girl's face. Her eyes were wide, and somehow, her eyes changed colors from a deep brown almost purple to yellow-gold.

The angel appeared on the horizon and flew very fast, his wings moving powerfully through the air. He was only about two-feet-tall, his wings proportionately big. The man almost laughed at the angel's size, like he was a Cupid or something.

The angel very quickly dove in and grabbed the little girl in the backseat, soothing her as he flew back up and dropped her on the bridge. The crowd watched, rapt to understand how the otherworldly being existed at all.

One of the cables snapped as the angel flew back to grab the parents of the girl. He arrived at the door and reached in, just as the SUV snapped through the cables and into the water.

The angel flew up with powerful strokes and landed on the bridge next to the girl's parents. While the crowd was busy with trying to ask the little cherub questions, Magneto dropped to the ground and twisted his hands.

One of the suspension cables snaked toward the cherub's feet, and grabbed at his ankle. Like instinct, the wings flew open and the little girl behind him was thrown over the side and towards the icy water.

With quick thinking, he grabbed the girl and slowed the fall, but not in enough time. They plunged into the depths below and for a few moments, they were under.

But finally, the angel came up from the water and held the girl in his arms. After one attempt to rise back out of the water, he realized his wings were just too wet. But with sheer willpower, he overcame the water and flew back up to the bridge, and landed carefully with the girl in his arms. The unconscious girl was handed back to her parents, and a man with a camera suddenly took one of the glowing angel.

"It's his fault!" Magneto said from the back of the crowd, dressed as any normal New Yorker would be. "He knocked the girl into the water! I saw it!"

It was child's play to manipulate the crowd. Like a mob, they suddenly realized that the angel was just a fraud. A freak. Magneto watched the girl's face the entire time, scared and upset.

As an ambulance arrived, the girl suddenly looked out towards the horizon and made the angel fly up, away from the crowd. Magneto turned just as he disappeared.

He did not approach the girl. Not yet.

* * *

><p>Camille, Jackie, and Rivera were looking through the clothing store down the street from the diner when they heard something interesting. Jackie hit Rivera in the side just in time to hear a girl say, "Did you see the news tonight? They actually have pictures of the angel at that accident on Brooklyn Bridge!"<p>

"I know! Can you believe it? He's for real!"

"Unless it's some incredible hoax," the girl replied, walking up the counter.

Camille, Rivera, and Jackie listened to the girls' gossip, wondering where they went from here.

* * *

><p>Ashley looked at the girl's parents as they exited the hospital room, but she tried to remain inconspicuous as they passed by her to sit at the waiting room. When she was certain that there were no doctors in the room, she turned and headed quickly into the girl's room.<p>

The girl was sleeping, just being monitored. Ashley took a sniff by mistake and smelled the hospital smell; antiseptic and needles. It made her head spin, and reminded her of the doctors who had diagnosed her so long ago.

She wanted to make sure the little girl was all right. It wouldn't be right if she didn't at least check. But thankfully, the girl was okay.

Ashley heard a noise and bolted for the corner, hiding behind a curtain. A nurse came in to check on the girl, and she took a deep silent breath before slipping out of the room.

She stalked down the hall, acting natural. No one seemed to ask her who she was or what she was doing here. She felt good.

She passed by the receptionist's desk, where three girls around her age were asking about the little girl she had saved.

"…them? It's very important," one of them verified. It was always important.

"I think they said something about praying at their church," the receptionist said.

Ashley nodded and continued to walk down the hall. But as she passed a door, one of the girls said, "Oh! It's her! The one on Cerebro!"

She didn't have time to question it as she bolted, running as fast as she could. The three girls ran after her, and she wasn't even sure why.

The voices in her head thundered, some helpful, others not so much. She heard Wolfie's plea to help, but she refrained, thinking it would drain her too much.

"Wait!" one of them yelled. "We don't want to hurt you! We just want to talk!"

But Ashley wasn't about to listen to these people. She ran as fast as she could, reaching a window. She summoned the angel for a quick getaway, despite Wolfie's protest that he wanted to be the one to help her. The newest creation grabbed her out of the window and flew off, and the three girls watched as she disappeared.

* * *

><p>"So they are working together?" asked Camille.<p>

Jackie sniffed the air. "I could get a better read on it if I could transform in the middle of the street, but the angel didn't have a scent. Did you see where it came from?"

Rivera shook her head. "No. It seemed to just come from nowhere, just when the girl needed him to save her. Maybe that's this girl's power?"

"What? To summon angels to save her?" Camille asked.

Rivera shrugged. "Crazier things have happened."

"Where do you think they flew to?" asked Camille.

Jackie seemed to have a light bulb go off. "The church! Only a few blocks away!"

* * *

><p>Ashley stood at the back of the cathedral, up on the balcony. She had sucked her creation back into her mind, but the voices were still so close. So overwhelming. She could barely concentrate because they were so loud.<p>

The girl's parents were praying in the first pew. Ashley watched them, not understanding why they would pray to a god that seemed to not care about her. Seemed to have skipped over her instead of "loving" her like he was supposed to.

That's when she heard him. Heard him behind her. She twisted around and her eyes widened.

He hovered forward, offering a hand.

"Who are you?"

"Someone like you."

"Oh, you're a mutant?"

The man with a strange red and purple helmet nodded. "Yes. I was once like you, confused and unaware of the things I could do with my gifts. But I came to understand them." He offered his hands. "I simply want to offer you the same understanding. Forsake those humans; in the end, they will shackle you in their prisons and let you rot."

Ashley watched the man. He seemed familiar, but the darkness obscured his face. Still, it seemed like she should know him. Like Ashley should know who he was.

"I'm sorry, but I've already been given this sales pitch."

That confused him. "Xavier?" he asked.

The name had no bearing with her. "No. Just leave me alone. I'm not interested."

"Do you even realize what a wonderful gift you have? You can create people, living, breathing people. You can give them abilities, abilities most people dream about," said the man. "Do you truly fathom that? You're like a goddess among insects."

Ashley thought about his words, but she was well aware of what she could do. "I know. And I've done some good and bad things with them, but I've learned to cope with help."

Again, he was confused. "Ever since one of my people, Mandi, saved you from drowning on that beach, I've thought about you. About that wolf-boy who followed you around that day. But I moved onto bigger and better things. Things I'd like for you to help me with."

"Oh," Ashley said. "So you're a stalker?"

The man rolled his eyes. She couldn't seem them clearly, but that was what he did. "There are others like you. I can help you, and together, we can carve a new path for our kind."

Ashley shook her head. "Sorry. I'm already part of a team."

As she turned around, the armored man angrily swung his hands and a candle post twisted off of the floor and began to twirl through the air, aiming to wrap around her.

Instantly, Wolfie was out, growling in front of her. He suddenly clicked his teeth and a flame sparked, and then he blew, cartoony fire streaming through the air towards the metal manipulating man. The man hovered away from it, out towards the deeper part of the church, still swinging his metal through the air.

Ashley nearly dropped from exhaustion. Summoning something at this point was almost too much for her, and she could barely stand. Her brain was on fire.

Wolfie stood guard as the man before her suddenly snapped off a chandelier, flinging it toward Ashley and trying to wrap her up. Wolfie jumped in front of its trajectory, grabbing it with one hand to try to throw it off course.

That was his mistake.

As soon as his hand touched it, the metal controller yanked the wolf-hybrid off of the balcony and wrapped him up in the chandelier. Ashley was horrified, before she realized something.

The wolf-hybrid suddenly disappeared, the chandelier collapsing on itself. Wolfie reappeared in front of her, but Ashley drooped even farther. Wolfie blew another blast of almost 2D fire at the enemy, and then spread the flames through the whole church. He'd burn it down to protect Ashley.

Magneto dodged the flames and hurled pieces of the chandelier at the wolf-hybrid. The building caught fire, and Wolfie tried to protect her. But his creator was too damaged. Too hurt.

Another chain wrapped around his body, and Wolfie was paralyzed to do anything about it. Ashley was terrified to absorb the creation for fear that she'd lose consciousness and be powerless.

Magneto touched down on the first floor of the church, and the couple that had been watching the whole thing ran out of the room before anything else could happen to them. He was about to wrap Ashley up, lift both her and Wolfie and drop them on the ground, when something painful suddenly hit his side, throwing him into a pew.

He felt weight on him, and it clawed and lashed at him. When he saw the huge white tiger, his eyes widened: was this another creation? But he didn't have to wonder too much when he suddenly grasped at a row of collection plates with his mind and hurled them at the tiger, throwing it off of him.

He scrambled to his feet, but just as he rose, there was a white flash of light and something struck his knee hard, and the man dropped to one knee. He felt something smash against his helmet and he dropped to the ground.

He was not about to let these kids best him. He looked up to see one of Xavier's kids and two others he didn't know, but he realized that they must all be from his oldest friend. Now, it was personal.

He shot to his feet, rose into the air and headed straight for the balcony. But when he looked up, another girl was there: the cloner. She was just finishing unwrapping the wolf from his chains when the creation suddenly leapt up and blasted Magneto with another burst of flames.

He slid through the air, but he twisted just in time to see the tiger leap from the top of a pew and grab his cape, the extra weight unsettling him. He crashed through the stain-glass window above the balcony.

"Are you all right?" Rivera called up from the ground. Her clone was helping the girl and the wolf-boy down now, hurrying them down the stairs before Magneto could come back.

Ashley nodded. "Thanks."

"Don't thank us yet," Camille said, her face determined. "It's not over."

The tiger joined them, standing in front almost like protection. Rivera recalled her clones, hoping to use the element of surprise when the Bucket-Head comes back.

"You fools!" he shouted, as if on cue. Several metallic objects lifted and rose before him. "Have you learned nothing?"

They dodged just in time, splitting up as the plethora of objects struck the ground. Wolfie fired a blast of heat so concentrated that it may as well have been a laser, but Magneto suddenly gripped pieces of the columns holding the place intact, using them to block the fire.

Rivera took a deep breath and summoned her clones, this time making them appear on Magneto's back. She hit the space in his armor where the neck met the shoulder, and he woozily dropped to the ground. She recalled them with another flash of light as he hit the ground hard.

Camille rushed up and focused, making her arms turn into mud. She snaked them over the mutant's body, hardening them into solid rock. She seemed surprised that she could even do it, and gave Rivera a confused look. Tigress rushed up and stood right in front of Magneto, daring him to do something.

"Rivera! Use one of your clones and get the girl out of-" But as Camille turned, the girl was already gone. She saw a golden light streaming from the broken stain-glass window, signifying the girl's departure.

"Looks like we got you all to ourselves then, huh?" asked Rivera. "What should we do with you?"

He tried to break free, but the tiger-girl growled at him and Camille's body was solid and fused to the floor, holding him down. She looked rather odd with her arms pretty much gone, but Rivera wasn't going to say anything to that.

"Where've you been, Magneto? Why were you after that girl?" asked Rivera.

"Why else? I aim to usher in a new age!" the man said, pushing against his bonds. Finally, Camille's trap cracked and he burst out of it. The French girl screamed, not so much in pain as with worry.

Magneto pushed through her, knocking her to the ground and into a mud puddle. Rivera's two clones suddenly shot in front of him, preparing to take him down, but he pushed them away with two metal bars that came from the columns behind them, smacking them to the ground unconscious. Rivera instinctively recalled them, but she was suddenly weak. Tigress shot up and bit his shoulder, making him cry out. But she two was thrown away by more metal, knocking her into a pew.

The metal manipulating mutant flew out of the wrecked church, hearing police sirens on the way.

"We have to get out of here!" Rivera yelled. Jackie was just starting to comb to, and Camille's body had turned back into the sludgy mud, but had not come together just yet. "Come on, let's go!"

They finally got out just in time, just as the police and fire station appeared to assess the situation and put out the fires.

* * *

><p>Ashley watched from the window, the angel she had created watching. The little girl was reunited with her family, awakened and smiling again. The mutant could just barely hear her excited murmurs about angels.<p>

"All right, let's go. We've got to get back."

Though exhausted, she made the angel fly high and aimed out of town. Out of the city.

* * *

><p>The holidays were so wonderful. Masato enjoyed the time with his family, for once laughing and playing along with Reese and Aug. They were opening gifts around the table, in the firelight. Kris was not too far away, singing carols with his parents in their home.<p>

Across the world, Grant was hiking for Christmas, enjoying the time with his father, even if he didn't like the labor or the outdoors that much. He ended up stopping several times to read Bible verses about the Christmas story to his father, using Ava's Bible.

Haley learned about the Kwanza traditions from Storm's family, and was thoroughly enjoying being in all of the nature. She definitely wanted to go back the next year, but she missed her own family as well.

Ava was being showered with praise for the gifts she got for her parents, and just as she had predicted, they really liked Alex. When the both of them had been out of earshot, Ava's mother wondered aloud about the two of them.

Rivera, Camille, and Jacquelyn ended up having an entire game of monopoly with Beast and Keiko for a whole night, and they still didn't finish. But they enjoyed the company and the laughs, despite everything.

Xavier fell asleep that night feeling content, even if a little bit worried for the girl who had created angels and given people hope. And of the friend who seems to be resurfacing...

* * *

><p><strong>If you liked that chapter, leave a review. If you hated the chapter, leave a review (or flame). In other words, review! :D<strong>

**How'd you like learning a bit more about Ashley? Just if it wasn't clear, she and Wolfie were the people Mandi saved on the beach back in the episode Cauldron, and she was seen with a mysterious group (whom you learned nothing about, and probably won't for a few more weeks). If she or her powers confused you, please, let me know. If you have questions, either review or shoot me a PM. I hope you enjoyed it. **

**Up next is "Walk on the Wild Side." Followed the next week by "Operation: Rebirth." They are sort of tied together loosely, and the latter chapter is in the works and should be an important team mission chapter (as opposed to the focus on Rouge and Kurt and Logan in the canon version). **

**Oh, and shout out to San child of the wolves for the character Ashley Kibou (Creator). **


	30. Walk on the Wild Side: The Siren's Song

**Walk on the Wild Side:  
>The Siren's Song<strong>

The air was warm in the sublevels, Ava noted. It had been a long time since she had been in the undeveloped underground reaches of the Institute; the X-Woman was used to Cerebro, the Hangar, and the Danger Room. The air was open and dark, shadows seeming to stretch farther than normal. It reminded her of a cave, and it was not her favorite place.

They were standing on what looked like a cultivated field, surrounded by high rocky walls. It was like a damp cylinder.

She looked at the girl in front of her, who was looking both nervous and uneasy. "What's wrong?" Ava asked.

Haley shook her head, her green-black hair shaking with her. "What if my powers don't work here…?"

"Why wouldn't they?"

"No sun," she replied. "Plants need sunlight to grow, don't they?"

Ava nodded, understanding. She hadn't really thought of it. "Hmm, I think that's the challenge, Haley. The professor wants to see if your willpower alone can make plants grow. What better way to train you than to take away natural resources?"

Haley didn't seem to like that, but she figured it was a good training tool. "So what am I supposed to do?"

"Do what you normally do," explained Ava. "You have the bag of seeds, right? Ivy should be easy to grow, don't you think?"

Haley shrugged. "Should be, I guess. But I've never done it before like this."

"That's the point, Pollen. Just try to figure it all out as you go. Are you ready?"

"What are you going to do?"

"Make the humidity and temperature stay in favorable conditions," explained Ava, who as if on cue, stirred a simple breeze that seemed to pick up and turn into a gale-force wind very quickly. Cursing under her breath, she focused harder and the wind died down to a gentle breeze, one that filled the air with water vapor. "Sorry… But like you, I have trouble controlling everything sometimes."

Haley nodded. "Okay, it's fine. I'm ready."

With newfound confidence of seeing strong, confident Ava out of control, she didn't feel so left out. So nervous. She strode over to one of the walls, next to cultivated ground. She took a deep breath and dropped the first of the seeds into the ground.

Focusing her mental probe, like an invisible arm, on the seed, she concentrated and found that inner pressure that formed when she used her powers. Her fingers twitched almost involuntarily as she took it upon herself to make the seed take root and sprout.

But after a couple of minutes, nothing was happening. "I can't," she muttered.

"Try harder. Can't never could."

Sighing, Pollen's forehead seemed to bulge as she renewed and redoubled her efforts. When she felt the chain reaction begin, she smiled.

The roots found nice bits of water in the earth and the sprouting bud popped from the seed and into the open air above. Focusing, the roots kept going and the sprout and stem began to extend. More roots extended from the stem as it clung to the rock wall.

"I'm doing it!" she said excitedly as the vine branched out and continued to climb, faster than any vine before.

"Great. Keep it up!"

Her breath seemed to grow more and more ragged the farther the vine went, and it was now taller than her and Ava stacked on top of each other.

"Drop more seeds, while you keep that one moving," Ava said.

Haley walked away from it but kept her mind fixated on the leaping, climbing vine. She dropped a few more seeds at relative intervals and her mind began to tire, but it was easier to take root and form this time.

Her vines climbed up the rock wall faster than she would have thought, now growing five at one time. She split her focus and time among them all, and after ten minutes, the base stems looked more like small trees than tiny vines. They seemed to be bulging out with her efforts.

Excited, she focused more on the top and the bottom, and vines criss-crossed and dug deeper and deeper into the rock than ever before.

"Ava? You down there?"

The voice's source appeared at the top of the column, where they could the see the more developed levels of the underground. Alex was waving down at them, dressed in his black and green uniform.

"Alex? What do you want?"

"The professor sent me down to make sure that Haley gets back here for her first day of high school," he explained. "She'll be late if this lasts too long."

Ava smirked. "I've got it handled." She turned back to Haley, who was still shooting her mental probes at the plants at the top, and when it started to look thicker on the top than the bottom, Ava grew uneasy but trusted that the chlorokinetic knew what she was doing.

But then, everything seemed to go wrong at once. The huge network of thick vines on the top seemed to bend, and suddenly, taking a huge chunk of rock with it, it snapped off and dropped directly towards Haley.

Ava thought quickly, shooting a bolt of electricity to off-set some of its weight and direct its course. But because the rock was partially grounded by the vines still attached at the base of the falling rock, it didn't do anything. Haley cringed, but a sudden wave of green energy burst the rock into tiny pieces, and the girl was safe from impact.

"Don't worry, I've got you!" Alex yelled from the top of the rocky column. "You all right?"

Ava and Haley walked back up the winding staircase cut through the wall behind them and emerged at the top, where the uniformed Alex was waiting. "You girls okay? If I hadn't been there, who knows what could have happened."

Ava frowned, walking away from him. "This was my exercise."

"Yeah, but you two were in trouble. I was just trying to save you."

Ava rolled her eyes and gestured for Haley to follow. "Come on."

"What? I was just trying to help!" Alex tried. But the girls kept walking, as far away from him as possible.

Sadly, when they finally got back up to the upper levels to change, Alex was still there. "Seriously, what did I do?"

Ava stopped suddenly and turned. "This was my exercise, and I was trying to teach Haley how to handle bad situations, like if she didn't have any sunlight or if there was a rock hurtling towards her! We didn't need a guy to come and save us!"

Dynamo looked at the girl in complete and utter confusion. "But-"

"We didn't need a strong man to save us!" Ava finished, turning and heading into her room. He looked to Haley for comment, but the girl just sighed and followed Ava's example.

Alex practically stood there with his jaw open for a long minute. Where had all of this come from? He hoped Taryn wouldn't get the message... he couldn't imagine the wrath of hell the girl could wreak.

* * *

><p>Jade looked at the wall for a long moment, away from her magazine. She listened to Archie and Tristan in the corner, making sexist jokes.<p>

"I got one!" Tristan said, laughing. "Why do girls have such small feet?"

Archie smiled. "I don't know."

"So they can stand closer to the sink!" The two laughed hysterically, but Jade rolled her eyes from her chair.

"You guys are retarded," she said with a grimace.

"What? You know this is true!" Archie exclaimed.

Lily suddenly walked downstairs, her short dark hair in a tangled mess. She was trying something new with her hair, but had received nothing but insults all morning from the guys. "No, it isn't; it's offensive. And could you be any louder? I can hear you up from my room!"

Tristan rolled his eyes. "We can't help it if you have freakish animal ears."

She growled. "Not all my senses are better when I'm human, dumb ass. Just my nose."

Tristan frowned. "Well, can't you smell that you aren't wanted?"

Lily growled in anger, officially pissed. She stalked towards Tristan, who simply raised a finger and shot a thin blast at her feet. She suddenly yelped in pain, a burn on her big toe. Like a lion, she roared and transformed, dashing across the house towards him. He raised another finger, but Jade was up and fired one of her yellow slow-bolts. Lily was suddenly slowed to the point where she was almost at a stand-still, stopping her from rampaging through the already trashed house.

"All right, Belle. Calm down," she cooed. "It's not worth it."

She turned off her powers, and Lily stopped running, nodding with understanding. She was still fuming, trying to control her breathing. The look on both Archie's and Tristan's faces was hysterical, but they seemed to know and quickly reset them.

Astoria suddenly popped her head in the door, behind both boys but facing both girls. She waved her hands, trying to get their attention. Then she pointed outside, to the drive-way.

Lily and Jade both glanced at each other, before heading towards the door. "Come on," Lily said. "Let's go Jade. They aren't worth our time."

Within a moment, the two boy suddenly heard an engine being started outside. Archie suddenly said, "My jeep!"

They ran out the door and cursed as the girls sped out of the driveway in Archie's vehicle, Astoria at the helm.

* * *

><p>The first bell rang, and Haley was about to be late. Rivera was escorting her to her classes, showing her where everything was. "Make sure you sit next to a window. The view is amazing, and you can watch the track team. You know what I'm talking about…" Rivera grinned before heading off to her class, rushing before she was late.<p>

Haley smiled and headed into the room, taking a seat towards the back. She fiddled with the image inducer that Xavier had given her, disguised as a ring on her right hand. It made her look just like any other girl with straight black hair and freckles.

A girl with straight dark brown layered hair and green eyes sat next to Haley, her ears covered by headphones and her nose sucked into a magazine. She couldn't read the title, but it looked like one of those girly magazines, like Seventeen or Cosmo. She didn't look like a girly kind of girl, so it kind of surprised Haley.

Haley turned back, a little put off by the girl. She looked familiar, or at least, seemed familiar. Where had she seen the girl before?

"Oh, hey," the girl said to her. "You're one of the Xavier brats, aren't ya?"

Haley suddenly grew even more self-conscious around this girl. She suddenly realized it. "Yeah. You're Jade, right? From the Brotherhood?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah. How's life working for you over there?"

The events of this morning played over in her mind. "Not so well today, it seems. I messed up the training session today, and Ava's been pushing me to do my best. But I'm not at her standards."

Jade rolled her eyes. "You mean the 'don't call it pink, it's amaranth girl'?" She looked straight at Haley. "Don't let her push you around."

"Yeah, but she's our leader-"

"Doesn't mean anything," Jade interrupted. "You need some rest, take some time off." She pointed to the magazine. "According to this, shopping is a great stress reliever. I need a break from the brothers of the Brotherhood anyways. Want to come?"

Haley thought for a moment. "I don't know… When?"

"Today, after school," Jade said.

"That sounds like fun. I don't know why not," Haley answered, smiling.

Jade nodded, before heading over to the window and yanking the New Mutant up to the pane. "And here comes the track team…"

* * *

><p>The last bell rang, and Ava couldn't get out of the school quick enough. She was about ready to burst after another boring day of class, and after making a D on her history test… That was going to be fun to explain to Xavier…<p>

Suddenly, she saw a jeep swerve by, and upon further inspection, she saw Haley in the car with Jade. Astoria and Lily weren't there, or anyone else in the Brotherhood, but Jade was bad enough.

She turned, hoping to run to her car, when she bumped right into Alex. "What's going on?" he asked when she barreled past him.

"Haley's with Jade in her car, and I don't think it's a good idea," explained Ava, hurrying towards her own vehicle.

"Let me come with," Alex said. "Maybe I can-"

She gave him an ice-cold look, and he froze. "Or you can take care of it on your own. Be safe."

She nodded slightly before running to her convertible. As she ran, she saw someone step away and walk to her, but when she realized who it was, she stopped.

"What is it, Tristan?"

He yanked two pieces of paper from his pocket. "I got me and you tickets to the Sadie Hawkins Dance next month."

She looked at him like he was the stupidest idiot in existence. "Seriously? Girls are supposed to ask guys to that dance, Arsenal."

Tristan looked confused for a second, before looking back to the school. "Well, I think I can make a nice… proposition for you."

She raised an eyebrow. "Let's talk about it later. Right now, I need to get going."

He smiled, putting the tickets back into his pocket. "Okay. But don't forget."

"I won't," she muttered, turning towards her car and speeding away from the lot, in the direction where she had seen Jade driving.

* * *

><p>Jade and Haley pulled up behind an older car, waiting for the stoplight to pass. Just as it did, two thugs ran out from the sidewalk and yanked the old man from his car, before taking off in it and leaving the man in the street.<p>

"Whoa!" Haley exclaimed. "Did you see that?"

"Of course I did," Jade answered. "I guess this is where we play hero, right?" She looked at the New Mutant next to her, and it seemed Haley's expression was enough of an answer. "All right, all right."

Jade threw the car into gear and sped up, racing through the streets to catch up to the carjackers. The speed was immediately unsettling for Haley, reminding her of how fast Reese had driven the X-Van, and she realized suddenly that she never wanted to drive like that again.

"Jade! Please, slow down!"

Jade rolled her eyes. "Nope! This is too much fun!"

They surged forward, finally seeing the stolen car in front of them. The thieves accelerated quickly, twisting through a turn much faster than should be possible. Matrix smiled and repeated the gesture.

Then all too suddenly, they saw many things at once. Ava was sitting in her convertible at the intersection in front of them, a little girl and her mother were standing in the way of the speeding car, and there probably wouldn't be enough time to stop them.

Acting without thinking to save the girl, Jade's hands flashed with yellow light, and everything in the immediate area slowed down. Everything.

She was amazed. She had never done anything like that before. Never. She could usually only affect one area at a time, but now she had frozen a whole city block. Everything glowed a dim yellow light, and it seems she was the only one unaffected in sight.

Thinking fast, she stopped her car as best she could, applying the emergency break just in case everything went haywire. She ran out of the door, keeping her head down in case someone was watching, and grabbed the little girl and her mother just in time, yanking them back into the sidewalk.

She hurried back to the jeep and into the driver seat, taking the break off and cutting off the flow of her powers. The speeding car kept moving, through the intersection as though nothing had happened. Jade kept the jeep moving, her breathing hard and ragged like she'd just run a marathon.

Haley waved at Ava in her convertible as they passed, and the storm manipulator seemed to be confused.

"Wait! Haley!" The convertible swung to the right, trying to follow Jade as best she could.

"Did you save the little girl and her mom?" asked Haley, amazed.

Jade didn't comment, but Haley knew it was true. How the girl had done it was beyond the plant-manipulator's understanding.

The thieves twisted into a set of alleys, and Jade hit several trash cans and piles of garbage as she followed. Ava was close behind.

"Haley, is there anything you can do to slow them down? They're gaining on us," Jade panted. "And I don't have any energy left."

Haley looked around, and spotted a fence ahead that blocked off a leafy backyard. Taking everything she had learned, she focused and branches and leaves extended and grabbed at the tires of the car, making them swerve. She took another deep breath and kept up the barrage, pushing them into a sort of dead end.

"All right Haley!" Jade said as soon as she stopped the car, right as the two thugs tried to run from the car. Roots shot out the ground and grabbed their ankles, yanking them to the ground. Bushes grew from under their bodies, interlocking them in a network of branches and forcing them to stay there.

Haley and Jade cheered, glad they had done it. Ava's car pulled to a stop behind the jeep, and she was more than a little miffed. "Well, we'll be lucky if this doesn't end up on the news. Professor's going to kill us."

"Who cares?" Haley exclaimed, excited. "We stopped the baddies and got the car back!"

Ava pointed to the mess that used to be a car, wrapped in vines and broken glass. "I'm sure the owner will be eternally grateful, like those little aliens on Toy Story."

Jade face-palmed at the reference, just as the police sirens marked the police's approach. "Let's get out of here!"

* * *

><p>Ava and Haley sat on the window-seat in the kitchen, watching the news. Alex was sitting at the table, eating a very tall foot-long sub sandwich with five different kinds of meats.<p>

"The capture of the notorious carjackers is attributed to a group of mysterious good Samaritans, who disappeared just as police arrived," the news reporter said. "The suspects are part of a larger car theft ring operating in Bayville."

Ava turned to Haley, who was trying to hold down her pride. "How's about we don't tell anyone about this?" asked Ava. "It's not like this will happen again."

Haley nodded. "Right."

They walked out together, and Alex was dumbfounded by what he'd heard, his face between mouthfuls.

* * *

><p>The thrill was addicting. The thrill of saving someone while risking your identities being discovered was not like the X-Men, Ava realized. It was more like the thrill of not wanting to get caught, not wanting to get into trouble. It was only a matter of time before Xavier suspected them. That made the fun so much more addicting.<p>

Since the first time they'd stopped the car thieves, she'd spent a lot more time with Jade and Haley. They shopped and listened to loud music, dancing in the middle of the store because they just didn't care what people thought. They'd continued their vigilante activities, stopping a tagger from spreading graffiti in the park with a well-placed bolt of lightning, before speeding by the now-covered with paint tagger on roller blades.

Their antics attracted Rivera to the fold, and soon enough, Lily and Astoria joined them as well. They shopped for matching outfits, dressing in black leather and sunglasses, and way-too-tight-but-they-just-didn't-care-pants.

Feeling more like a team, they smiled as they continued to stop thieves and return purses. Lily once stopped a rapist by pretending to be a victim, and then turning full-beast-mode and slamming the guy into the wall, before leaving the apartment quickly.

All in all, they were having the time of their lives. Stopping bad guys and taking names. That was their justice.

* * *

><p>"And so, in just a few short days, Bayville's crime rate has been literally cut in half," the news anchor said, in front of a screen that had a picture of six girls and a caption above them that read, 'The Bayville Sirens.' Ava had supplied the name herself, after Storm Siren. "It's all due to the mysterious group of female crime-fighters referred to as 'The Bayville Sirens.'<p>

It cut to a clip of a reporter at the front of the police station, where the police chief appeared. The reporter asked him a question about the Sirens, and the chief responded as Alex would have thought. These vigilantes had to be stopped.

Alex paused in the middle of his cookie, suddenly realizing who was behind all of this.

* * *

><p>Alex was at his locker when a girl passed by him, saying something about the Sirens. "Haven't you heard? Some are saying that they have special powers."<p>

The boy nearly bumped his head on the top of his locker as he turned around in surprise, the dangers of the situation suddenly growing. As he turned, he caught whom he feared in his line of sight: Ava, Astoria, Lily, Jade, Haley, and Rivera. They passed by him without a second glance, and they were definitely soaking up the attention of the male population.

Suddenly, Grant passed in front of him and Alex grabbed him around the shoulders, surprising him. "Wha-?"

"Grant, you got anything planned for tonight?"

"No. Why?"

"Good. Because we've got something to do, but we have to keep it on the down-low. Especially from the girls."

Grant looked at him with confusion, but nodded just the same.

* * *

><p>"So you're going to go to the dance with Ava?" asked Archie. "Why?"<p>

Tristan smirked. "Let's just say that we get some… mutual benefits. I get to go out with a total hottie. And she gets something in return."

"What's that? It can't be the enjoyment of your company," Archie said. "She hates our guts. And besides, she's not that great looking."

"What? She's completely gorgeous and has a body to die for!" Tristan exclaimed.

Archie crossed his arms. "She also has a rather large nose and a really tall face. Kind of disproportional, I think."

Tristan shook his head in disbelief. "Well, you think wrong."

The hydrokinetic simply shrugged, not commenting further when a sudden engine erupted.

"Not again…" Archie mumbled. The two boys rushed up to see Astoria, Lily, and Jade rushing out with the jeep, leaving an angry Archie and an amused Tristan behind.

* * *

><p>Grant popped his head over the fence, the rest of his body sitting behind Alex on his motorcycle. He looked at the mansion just in time to see Haley, Ava, and Rivera leaving the front door, rushing towards the gate in the night light.<p>

Grant snaked his neck back to his body. "The girls are leaving. Get ready."

Alex backed the bike up even farther, trying not to be seen. Ava's car crept out of the yard and into the street quietly, before turning on the lights. To their surprise, Archie's jeep suddenly appeared, being driven by the Brotherhood girls. The two cars sped off together, before Alex started his bike and raced steadily behind them.

"Oh, ladies," Rivera said, looking back into the mirror as they raced through the busy, night-lit streets. "Dynamo and Aurum are behind us." Ava made a signal from her car that the Brotherhood jeep needed to speed up in front of them, and they sped up as well.

"Not for long."

Alex tried to keep up, keeping his bike moving fast. Grant's added weight was unusual, and it seemed to keep things slow for the bike. But Alex pushed his baby on, keeping as close behind as he could.

The train track the jeep was approaching suddenly buzzed with activity. Jade threw out her hands and the train slowed about half as fast, the engine seeming to glow with faint yellow energy. The jeep passed through the train tracks easily, and Ava's car was not far behind. It was close, but as soon as Ava crossed the tracks, Jade's powers shut off and she nearly collapsed in the backseat, too much work for her powers.

Alex suddenly stopped just before the train on the tracks, cursing. "We've got to wait."

* * *

><p>Now dressed in their leathery gear, Ava followed the Brotherhood jeep in her car. They eased towards the warehouse district of town, where the car theft ring's activity was suspected to be mainly located.<p>

They watched with abated breath as a blue sedan suddenly shot by, and its owner was cursing the fact that it had been stolen.

"Follow that car!" Haley said, and both the jeep and the sports-car turned around quickly.

They followed as closely as they could, weaving through traffic as the stolen car did. They broke through a line of warehouses, shooting over a hill and landing at the base hard, but the thief was nowhere to be seen.

"Where'd he go?" asked Jade.

Lily took a sniff and smiled, the smell of gasoline and machinery ahead. She lead them to a large warehouse, certain that this was where they needed to go.

* * *

><p>The girls watched as stolen cars were taken apart by a bunch of unemployed grease-monkeys. "This is the theft ring's headquarters!" Jade realized. "They take apart stolen cars and sell them."<p>

"Glad you could join the party, girls," a voice behind them said. The Sirens turned to see a group of men armed with chains, hammers, and other tools standing in the shadows. "Now, we've been expecting you."

"Crap," Rivera said.

"It's a trap," Astoria said, no longer able to grin.

"That really sucks," Lily grumbled, already feeling her anger take over.

"Now you see, you Sirens have been slowing down our business," the older man said. "And the boys have been a tad…irritable about it." Men stalked towards them, brandishing chains and crowbars in their palms.

Ava immediately stood from her spot, smirking. The others rose around her, taking offensive positions. "Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"

"No, because I never listened to her." As soon as he said it, the first few men made their moves.

Rivera tripled and took the first two men by surprise, two kicks to the gut and chest, throwing them into a pile of tires. She spun out with her fist just in time to hammerfist the side of the man's face, drilling him into the concrete floor.

Haley kicked one man in the chin, and when he dropped his chain as he bent down to groan, she elbowed him hard in the back of the neck. The man dropped like a bag of rocks. Haley threw contents from a pouch at her side, confusing one man who stalked toward her with a large pipe in hand. As soon as vines began to grow from those tiny seeds, he tried to run but was soon covered from head to toe, unable to move.

Lily immediately transformed, shocking two men before they could even come near her. She roared and struck the first with her huge claw, flinging him into a barrel filled with oil. She smelled some of the fuel spill out, but her muddled animal brain wouldn't focus as she slammed into the next man, who hit his head with a sickening crunch on the hood of a car.

Astoria wasted no time in showing off her unique talents, creating bursts of blue flame that scarred and burned the men who tried to near her. As she smiled seemingly happily, one man stalked towards her with a huge chain. She rotated just in time to catch the man in the shoulder with her heel, knocking him away. She blasted another jet of fire at him, and he cowered in fear below her.

Jade watched as three men took the time to rush her with weapons of varying degrees. She backed away and her hands began to glow with yellow-white energy. As one tried to swing a chain at her, she slowed it down, stepped out of its range, and sped it up. It hit the ground hard and fast enough to make a gash before it uncontrollably struck the man in the crotch, and he went down immediately, squealing. The other two looked in confusion. "You want some of this?" They obviously didn't, and ran to another area of the warehouse.

Ava took a deep breath as a group of men seemed to run for her, thinking of her as easy to take on. She suddenly created a wind that spiraled outward, and lightning cackled in the air around her. Bolts flew around and around her body, looking like some kind of dome.

"Nice parlor trick," one man said, and approached. He was suddenly struck by the pinkish lightning, throwing him backward. The sound of electricity was high in the air, and no one was expected to go anywhere near her.

* * *

><p>Alex and Grant tore through the streets, just in time to hear some kind of commotion. When thunder struck, and yet the sky was clear, they were sure it was them.<p>

"That way!" Grant said, pointing. The sky ahead was clouded with smoke and flaming embers, some blue, were rising into the sky.

Alex sped faster than before in case the girls were in trouble. He found the now-burning-with-blue-fire warehouse, and it seemed Astoria's powers had gotten the better of her.

"Come on! Let's go!" Alex yelled, parking the bike and dragging Grant towards a side entrance. They opened the door quietly, watching from a pathway above.

The girls were rounding up the thieves, and blue flames seemed to be spread all around the area. Astoria was standing in front of one of them, trying to gather all the flames so she could extinguish them with her powers.

"Are you coming?" asked Grant, looking antsy as he wanted to help.

Ava's words came back to Alex's mind, and he shook his head. "No. Let's let the girl's handle it this time." Grant seemed to understand.

An older man was in shock, dressed in what looked like the nicest clothes: Alex thought he could be the leader. He suddenly took off to a run, a run that did not go unnoticed to the girls.

Rivera's clones were suddenly at her side, and they lifted her up and threw her into the air, launching her high above the ground. She threw out her feet and kicked the shocked man on the shoulders, throwing him straight into the trunk of a car. Lily leapt from somewhere and landed on the trunk in her beast-mode, shutting the door on the leader.

But the shaking of the car made several cans of motor oil fall out of the front seat and land on the ground, their contents heading right for the flames. Alex reacted fast, firing a blast of green energy powerful enough to shove the car out of the way before it got caught in the spreading flames. The car was shoved forward, and the flames that suddenly rushed along the strands of oil did not make the car explode.

Grant gave him an interesting look, but Alex shrugged. "Don't say anything about that. Ever."

* * *

><p>The police were there in a heartbeat. Astoria had finally managed to put out all the flames, and the thieves were tied up. The Sirens thought they were doing just fine until a female officer suddenly appeared. "All right, fun's over! The building is surrounded and there is no way out!"<p>

Haley looked up, suddenly nervous. "But we're the good guys. Or rather, girls."

"I know exactly who you are. You're vigilantes who take the law into your own hands. And you're under arrest."

Lily growled, and Jade for once agreed with her. "Oh yeah? Why don't you try us?" But Ava suddenly appeared behind her, stopping her from speaking.

"No, no. The police aren't the bad guys." Jade frowned.

"Smart girl," the officer said. She pointed the flashlight to the two groups of chained-up thieves. "You put an end to their little enterprise. Good work." She walked forward, confused at what she was going to really do. "Look, uh… I'm probably going to lose my job over this, but I'm going to let you go."

"Seriously?" asked Astoria, suddenly excited.

The officer nodded. "On one condition. You have to promise to stop what you've been doing, and I mean now. It's either that, or I take you in."

Ava raised her hand, smiling lightly. "Um, we'll take the deal."

The officer nodded again, approving. She pointed the flashlight. "That leads to a sub-basement, which should take you down to the city sewers. Now, get going!"

"Thanks!" Lily said, before pointing to the car to her right. "Their boss is in the trunk, by the way." The girls rushed off, disappearing into the underground.

The police suddenly tore open the door into the basement, and the police chief strode up to the female officer. "Warehouse is clear, chief. No sign of those vigilantes."

"Hmm," the officer said, pointing the flashlight around. "We'll get 'em next time."

The female officer smirked as he walked away. She backed away from them, walking around a smoking van before transforming her appearance, becoming the usual blue-skinned, yellow-eyed Mystique.

* * *

><p>The mansion was mostly dark, except for the two students who had both gone down for a midnight snack. Alex and Ava both walked around to the cookie jar, and reached their hands in at the same time. When Ava didn't come up with one, Alex pinched off half of his. "Here you go."<p>

She smiled. It was a big gesture for him to give away his food. "Thanks." Ava took a seat, the night's events heavy on her mind. She absently brushed her hand through her hair, hoping to eventually get the smell of smoke out of it.

He walked to the refrigerator. "So… how was your night?"

Ava chuckled. "We saw you, Alex. We knew you were following us." He took the milk out and sheepishly sat across from her, pouring a glass. "Thanks for not trying to rescue us."

He smiled. "Um… anytime, I guess."

She rolled her eyes, realizing people just don't change sometimes. "I guess we took the definition of girl power to a whole new level, huh?" She smiled. "But it was fun while it lasted."

"It sucks they made you stop. Although, I'll bet you were looking for a break from Jade and them by the end of it."

She laughed. "Maybe a little. Lily always smells like cigarettes and meat." He chuckled. "But I have to admit, it was definitely cool to be able to work with the Brotherhood, or at least, with some of them. Maybe it will happen again someday, when we can use our powers in public to help other people."

Alex smiled. "It _will_ happen someday. I guess when the professor thinks it's time, we'll be able to do just that. And be appreciated for it."

Ava grinned, raising her glass. "To someday." Their glasses clinked together, bringing a grin to both of their faces.

"To someday."

* * *

><p>The Bayville Police Chief listened to the carjackers' wild stories for what could have been hours, and he was so sick of hearing it. It was like an urban legend, a crazy story that someone would tell your kids. He locked up his office, ready to go home. As soon as he stepped out into the station, he heard a strange knocking at the door.<p>

"I'm coming, I'm coming," the chief said tiredly, heading over to the door. He kept his mind focused on being ready to grab the gun from his holster, in case it was someone dangerous. Why else would someone come this late at night?

He opened the door and was surprised to see two people he'd never seen before. One was a man with white hair dressed in a black overcoat, with an eye-patch over his eye. The other was a woman wearing glasses with short cropped black hair and green eyes.

"Hello, my name is Nick Fury, and this is Quinn Delmond. We're very interested in what happened here tonight."

* * *

><p><strong>I hate to cut if off right there… (Actually, I don't. I love making you suffer. I guess that makes me a sadist, but whatever. Lol)<strong>

**So SHIELD is here, huh? What do you think? And Quinn Delmond is a wonderful OC by the great Stormysongbird. So big thanks to her (even if she's used as a teaser in this chapter). **


	31. Operation Rebirth: SHIELDing Innocence

**Operation: Rebirth  
>SHIELDing Innocence<strong>

Wolverine jumped off of his bike, having dodged these guys for the last ten minutes. He'd almost ran right off a cliff, but managed to get off of his bike just in time. After subduing three armored hummers along the way, the only thing left chasing him was a heli-jet, similar to the Velocity back at the mansion.

"Hold it right there, Logan," a familiar voice called out through an intercom.

When he saw the insignia on the side, he growled. And he growled further when the man he had tried to avoid after all these years appeared behind the heli-jet's sliding door. "Or should I say… Weapon X?"

He and a young woman with short black hair and glasses covering green eyes jumped from the jet, landing in front of Wolverine. She looked about as determined as Fury, but had an almost geeky look to her. Logan noticed she had a sort of young cockiness about her, probably fresh out of whatever training SHIELD put her through.

"Actually," Fury commented, "you're going by Wolverine now, aren't you?"

"Fury…" Logan grumbled, fighting not to gut the man in front of him. "I got just one word for ya: goodbye." Wolverine started to walk off, heading for his motorcycle.

"Have it your way," Fury muttered. "Gunner, target that bike."

Logan snarled when the large guns on the underside of the copter were suddenly stopping him from getting away. "Okay, Patch, what's this about? I don't work with SHIELD anymore."

Fury looked solemnly. "Baron von Strucker's back."

Logan's eyes widened, but he couldn't figure out why. "Who's that?"

"I was afraid that you wouldn't remember," explained Fury. The man with the eye patch gestured to the young woman who had previously not said a word.

"Who're you?" asked Logan.

The woman smirked. "My name's Quinn Delmond, codename: Reminisce. Sorry if this hurts. I've never done it with someone whose memory is worse than Swiss cheese."

Almost immediately, Logan felt something happen in his mind. The girl in front of him suddenly shifted and blurred, before taking the appearance of an older bald man with his right-eve covered by a circular lens. His face was in a scowl, and his right hand was covered by a red glove, shaped like a claw.

A claw that invoked so many memories.

Wolverine suddenly grew angry as his mind came back to him, and he remembered what that man had done. His claws were out in a flash, and he ran straight for von Strucker.

Fury stepped in between them. "No, Logan."

Almost immediately, like some kind of drug wearing off, he began to realize that the von Strucker before him was simply Quinn Delmond in disguise. She morphed back into herself, still worried that the man might attack for no good reason.

"Sorry, Logan, but that was the only way to fix your memory of him," explained Fury. "To make you believe that it really was him, standing before you."

"My telepathic shape-shifting works alongside a hypnotic sedative," explained Reminisce. "One that your healing factor luckily fought off."

Wolverine was still confused, images and sensations flooding his mind. Something Xavier had only been able to do with long complicated sessions.

"Where is he?" asked Logan angrily.

"We tracked him a few months ago to Rebirth's location in the Sahara Desert, but didn't discover him again until only a few days ago. We're sure of it now."

"He's joined them again, hasn't he?"

Fury shook his head. "In a surprising bit of news, he's still not made his move. We think that he's possibly going to oppose them, and our spies have reason to believe that he will do so soon."

Logan frowned, but let Fury continue.

"We also learned a few days ago that the Satan's Claw that had once been safely in Xavier's possession had been stolen, probably for months. Were you aware?"

Wolverine's eyes widened. "No, I wasn't. Didn't even know Xavier had it."

"Well, the truth of the matter is that he did. And now, he doesn't," explained Fury. "Viper, the woman who was essentially Strucker's second-in-command, has it. And the Baron wants it back."

"Civil war, in other words," explained Quinn.

"Okay, but what does this have to do with me?"

"HYDRA has been building a mutant division for years now, and they've stolen Rebirth."

Logan's eyes widened. When he had mentioned it before, Logan had assumed when he said Rebirth, he only meant the shattered remnants of it.

"Rebirth? Impossible! Rogers and I made sure it was destroyed!"

Fury solemnly frowned. "It was a back-up. SHIELD knew about it, and we've been keeping tabs over the years, assuming no one knew about its location. But now, HYDRA has it. And it's too dangerous to keep unchecked."

Logan paced backwards for a minute, thinking. "So, since they have these mutants, you want me to sneak in and destroy it. And if I can't sneak in, you need my healing factor to destroy it anyway."

Fury nodded. "Affirmative."

* * *

><p>"Kris, I failed my math test again," Camille said with a grimace. "Can you help me study?"<p>

"That stinks, but you should be asking Grant for help, not me. I've made a C on the last two."

She sighed. "I guess you're right."

But as she was about to ask if he knew where Grant was, the boy suddenly bumped into some really big kid, who felt the need to walk right between them. "Clear the road, losers."

Kris's hands involuntarily sparked and Camille stepped two steps away to avoid them, knowing how dangerous they could be. The bully turned around just as Kris shoved his glowing hands into his hoodie pocket.

"I'm not sure if my English is completely right, but you're supposed to say, 'Excuse me.'" She stepped in front of Kris in order to block out any possible sparks from flowing.

The bully turned quickly, Kris not sure how he and his belly moved that fast. "What was that, Blondie?"

"You want to start something?" asked Kris, grateful that his sparks were under control now.

Rivera suddenly appeared, having walked over from the center of the quad, her two mute clones Chayce and Maya in tow. When there were suddenly five of them standing there, the bully backed off a bit.

"Leave us alone," Camille commanded. When Alex, Ava, and Grant tapped him on the shoulder, he definitely was fearful.

"Are you done?" Ava challenged.

"Fine. You're all a bunch of losers, anyways." The bully stalked off, not happy in the slightest.

"What happened?" asked Alex.

Kris pointed to his hands. "The bully bumped into me, and it startled me to the point where I started shooting sparks. Hasn't happened in a while, but it was nearly exposed."

Grant smiled gravely. "I suppose it's good that we showed when we did."

Kris and Camille nodded.

"When are people going to learn?" Camille wondered.

"Maybe when people can read thoughts, shoot lasers from their hands, or turn into animals?" suggested Alex, making them all laugh.

* * *

><p>Xavier rolled next to a walking Logan, watching the New Mutants enjoy time on the lawn. "Fury explained that you had the Satan's Claw, and that someone stole it to give it to Viper."<p>

The telepath nodded. "Yes. The Satan's Claw was supposed to be hidden in the depths of the mansion. I was not aware that it had been stolen until possibly weeks after the fact, but it is troubling."

"Well, how'd you get it from Strucker?"

Xavier sighed. "When I was young, I ran into Strucker. I didn't know who he was, but I saw what that Claw could do. He absorbed the life force of someone that I knew and took it for his own. I was not about to let that pass, so I telepathically made the man give it to me. I forced him to forget about it, about me. I retrieved it and hid it away. But it's obvious that the man didn't forget."

Logan nodded.

"Can you explain to me what Operation: Rebirth is?"

Wolverine nodded again. "Early attempt at genetic engineering. Crude… but powerful. The idea was to create super soldiers for World War II."

"A master race!" exclaimed Xavier.

"Nah," Wolverine said, looking down. "These were the good guys. They didn't mean it like that."

"Yes, they never do, at first." Xavier looked solemn, before turning back to the burly man next to him. "So. Tell me, was it ever used on anyone? Aside from von Strucker, who has apparently used it to revive himself?"

Logan nodded, thinking immediately of the past. "Yeah. Steve Rogers."

He explained to Xavier what a great man he was, how the Rebirth project gave a little guy a big gift, and how he selflessly saved others.

"Really? I knew you were older than you look, but World War II?" Xavier considered it a moment. "Your regenerative powers are impressive. So is your memory, but I thought parts of your past were lost to you?"

"Yeah…well… uh, it's pretty much right after that that things get fuzzy."

"Still, your story puzzles me," Xavier said. "If Steve Rogers was indeed the famed Captain America, that would seem to indicate the Rebirth project was… successful."

"No," Logan said. "It seemed to go smoothly at first, but Rogers… it destroyed him. And now, it's in the hands of HYDRA."

* * *

><p>Just as they were suiting up for a Danger Room session, the mansion's lights began to flash off and on, again and again.<p>

"Power surge? Since when does the Institute have trouble with electricity?" asked Kris.

Alex shook his head. "No, it's Cerebro at full power! Let's go look!"

* * *

><p>Logan looked down at the globe on Cerebro's screen, surprised at all the areas of deep orange, which signified high population centers with high mutant populations. "Man, they're all over the place."<p>

"The percentage of the population who possess the X-Gene is increasing exponentially. It's becoming difficult to keep track of them, even with Cerebro's recent enhancements."

Logan thought for a moment. "Hmm. No way mutants are going to be under-wraps for much longer."

Xavier nodded from underneath the Cerebro headgear. "Yes. I suspect that's what Magneto feels as well, hence his recent activity."

Wolverine bent over the console. "So… have you found them yet? The HYDRA mutants, that is?"

As they were saying it, the five X-Men were watching the conversation, hearing their exchange.

"It's possible they could be located just outside of London," explained Xavier, focusing in on the area of Great Britain. There was a high percentage of activity within the city, some reds and oranges outside of the direct urban areas. "But without knowing what their signatures feel like, it's difficult to know for certain."

Suddenly, Kris coughed. He immediately cursed and the jig was up.

"Well, well," Wolverine said, looking back to the mutants behind them. "Look whom we have here."

"Come on in, children," Xavier said.

The six mutants walked in nervously, feeling as though they were going to get into trouble.

"No trouble, Ava," explained Xavier, pulling off the headset.

"If you're about to go on a rag-tag adventure to London, we want in," Kris explained.

'This is what we've been training for," Alex added.

"Definitely," commented Rivera, crossing her arms over her white and black uniform.

Wolverine looked at Xavier one time and then said, "No."

"Why not?" demanded Ava. "We're experienced. We've gone up against the likes of Magneto before and won!"

"Some of us have done it _twice_," added Rivera proudly, thinking of her encounter in Manhattan during Christmas.

Logan sighed. "Have you gone up against an entire army of gun-carrying terrorists?"

"We've defeated someone who can defeat an entire army of gun-carrying terrorists," explained Grant. "It's like the transitive property in math. Why won't you let us do this?"

The professor looked at them earnestly. "It would be stupid and reckless of me to send you."

"What about sending Logan? That's _just_ as stupid and reckless!" Ava shouted, angry.

"I have a healing factor, and I've been in more military combat situations than you can count on both your hands and feet," explained Wolverine, crossing his arms. "It's out of your hands."

"And that's the final word."

* * *

><p>"No freaking way are we going to sit this one out," Ava said angrily. They were at lunch, the five of them gathered and eating. Logan was going to leave very soon.<p>

"I agree completely," Rivera said. "I want to help. It stinks that we can't use our powers like this when we want to."

"Yeah," Kris agreed. "It sounds like this Claw thing has some really powerful mojo. Logan is going to need some back-up."

Grant agreed, pushing the image inducer hiding his golden skin further up his arm, careful not to touch any of the buttons. "If it sucks away life force, or the natural adenosine tri-phosphate reserves located within the body, even Wolverine's healing factor might not be able to keep up."

Alex nodded, although he and everyone else was confused at the biology lingo. "This is what our powers should be used for. Helping others is our job! Or at least, it should be!"

"All right then," said Ava, suddenly devious. "Let's go out tonight. We'll take Velocity and head to London ourselves."

Rivera was the only one not keen on breaking the rules, but she eventually agreed. They came up with a plan, excited and nervous.

They ate their lunch in silence for a few minutes, when suddenly, Tristan sat down next to Ava. Alex looked up with raised eyebrows.

"How are ya, Coral?" asked the black-haired boy, his conniving smile bright.

Ava rolled her eyes. "It's amaranth, genius. How many times do I have to tell you?"

Tristan backed off, raising his hands in surrender. "Hey, now. What did I do?"

"Maybe existing?" Kris suggested dryly for him, shrugging.

"Don't push me, Sparky. I don't need my powers to take you down."

The Japanese boy with too-orange hair growled at him, but made no further comment.

"So I hear from a reliable source that you guys might need my help," said Tristan, displaying a too knowledgeable smile.

"What do you mean?" asked Grant.

Tristan raised an eyebrow. "I think you know." He took a deep breath, before continuing. "I know all about the mission Wolverine is leaving on. The Brotherhood is willing to help."

"How?" asked Alex. "Even if you know about where Logan's going, how could you losers help?"

Tristan sat back in his seat, crossing his fingers behind his neck and smirking. "Believe it or not, I used to be part of HYDRA."

Brows raised, mutants gasped, and everyone seemed to have a disbelieving look. "Seriously? Got some proof?" asked Ava.

Tristan pulled out a device that looked somewhat like a small PDA. On it was a map with a deep red blip near London. "I know where Rebirth is, the machine that SHIELD wants Logan to retrieve."

Questions poured from their mouths faster than a flowing waterfall, but Alex managed to get them all to shush. He stepped forward, standing over Tristan, easily about four inches shorter than the blond boy. "Explain. Now."

The boy smiled. "Fine. I will. On the way there, with my team. If you don't let us go, you won't get our help. I would think the more people on your side, the better it would be."

Ava looked to the others, before gesturing for Tristan to scram. "We need to talk about this in private first."

The tall, lanky teen stood and headed away, glad to give them a minute. He was feeling overly confident that they would accept the offer. Visions of his father and revenge on his previous employers raced through his head.

Ava turned back to her teammates. "What should we do?"

Alex immediately opened his mouth. "I don't trust him."

"He's given us no reason to believe that he's actually in HYDRA," Kris added.

Grant raised his hand. "Except that map he showed us was of England. How else would he know that this was located in Britain?"

"How did he know about any of this in the first place?" asked Rivera.

"This is definitely fishy, but to find out more, we'll have to put up with them," Ava said begrudgingly.

* * *

><p>Later that night, the X-Men crept to the hangar. Staying silent and using some of Wolverine's stealth tactics he had tried to force into their brains, they crept past the faculty hall right before the elevator, not making a sound.<p>

Right as they were getting to the elevator, there was a loud grumbling sound. Immediately, they turned to the source to see Alex standing in the back, holding his growling stomach.

"Sorry," he whispered. "Didn't get my third course at dinner."

"It's because of people like you that the world starves," Ava muttered, smirking. He rolled his eyes.

The others fought the urge to giggle when they finally arrived at the elevator and headed straight to the sub-levels. The hangar was nearly empty, except for the heli-jet sitting in the corner.

They hurried inside, not stopping to worry about small-talk. Almost as soon as they were inside, Ava suddenly stopped.

"Whoa… can anyone fly this?"

Nearly everyone had scared looks on their faces. Most of their exercises were attached to the Blackbird, and they'd only seen Wolverine fly it on occasion.

Rivera suddenly tripled. "Don't worry. I've got it."

Everyone sighed with relief. Rivera's mimicking abilities weren't used very often, or at least, not as often as she'd like. She was quite handy to have around, especially if a pipe breaks or if she needed to rebuild a Danger Room turret. The girl and her clones could do just about any task, including fighting styles, as long as they watched them first. Logan had been teaching her so many different martial arts she was able to do them so simply now that it was too easy for her.

Assuming that Chayce and Maya could follow her orders like they were supposed to. Having voices in her head was rather distracting.

When the three identical mutants were sitting at the cockpit, the door to the sublevels opened. A confused Beast appeared, not seeming to know what was going on. Keiko appeared very quickly, still as confused.

"Step on it, Echo!" Alex yelled.

Finally, the copter rose into the air, just as the hangar door that led to the tennis courts above opened. It flew away very quickly, leaving the mansion in the dust.

"They're going to kill us," Grant muttered.

"Not if we come back dead," Ava said, oddly happy about that. "Not that that's going to happen."

"Where are we meeting the Brotherhood?" asked Kris.

"Edge of town," explained Rivera. "I have to get us as far away from the mansion as possible so Storm can't track us and stop us in the air, before swinging back to meet them."

* * *

><p>Logan had been trekking for what seemed like miles, having ditched the jet behind in order to stop them from tracking his aircraft, despite the cloaking device he could switch on. Besides, it was nothing that he couldn't cover.<p>

The mountain base before him was located not too far from London. He didn't know much about it, but he somehow remembered that it was there. He must have… visited HYDRA's base before, in another time. Surprisingly, the layout was clear as day in his head.

It stretched before him, looking very tall and not fifteen miles from the capital of Great Britain. The tree covered mountain was a buzz of activity, at least on the outside around the base.

Logan's ears perked and he sniffed the air. He whipped his claw around fast enough that he sliced right through the soldier's wrist, clean through bone. Blood splattered on the ground, staining the grass.

The soldier was dressed in a green and yellow uniform, with an emblem resembling an octopus on the chest. HYDRA.

He screamed, clutching his stump as Logan stalked towards him. The mutant heard the click of the gun being loaded just in time to spin into a roundhouse kick, knocking the gun and the other soldier away.

After dispatching the two soldiers quietly, he raced forward and into the maze of tunnels. Sensors were visible, and he adeptly evaded them, avoiding security cameras and heat detectors.

He nearly gasped when he arrived in the large, dome-like room. It was tall, probably the epicenter of the mountain. Huge wads of troops were training all along the walls, but on the far wall of the lamp-lit room was what looked like a throne. Sitting atop it and surrounded by several soldiers was a woman with short, green-black hair. On her hand was one of the objectives; the Satan's Claw.

Wolverine growled in annoyance. How was he supposed to get past all these guards without one of them getting lucky?

* * *

><p>"Is this it?" asked Astoria from the back of the cramped helicopter. Fitting ten people in Velocity was probably not a good idea, but it was their only option.<p>

"Yeah," Tristan answered, looking down at the transceiver in his hand. "Rebirth and HYDRA are here."

Alex looked at the ex-HYDRA operative. "Got a plan?"

Arsenal smirked. "Yeah." He split them into five groups, a Brotherhood member and an X-Man in each. "All right. There are five entrances all along the mountainside. We're going to split up and take all five passageways, since we need to search the inside for Wolverine and for Rebirth."

"Wouldn't it be smarter to stay as a team?" asked Kris. "That's what we trained for."

"No," Tristan said adamantly. "We've got to be careful. There's too much at stake for us to attract attention and stay as a huge group."

Jade sighed. "Fine. At the very least, we'll be a nice distraction for Wolverine to finish the mission on his own."

They all seemed to agree. When they checked over any last minute details, such as how to slip inside undetected, they were ready to land and take off. Rivera adeptly landed the heli-jet away from the base, so everyone could go on foot. The five duos split and headed inside the base.

* * *

><p>Logan stood atop a balcony lining the room, making as careful a step as he could to not attract attention. He had already silently taken care of a few scattered guards without any trouble, and he tried his best to blend into the shadows.<p>

He was getting closer and closer to the throne, deciding to take care of the Claw first, and in the confusion when their leader was taken down, he'd be able to find Rebirth and destroy it once and for all.

The mutant studied the guards around the throne and immediately realized that some of them were not completely like the others, probably higher-ups. He sniffed and realized one of them smelled familiar, but he didn't know why or how. He'd never seen any of these people in his life.

He stepped one foot closer and immediately, someone threw open a door on the opposite side. He watched quizzically as a man strode into the room, backed by a squad of six soldiers, energy rifles primed and ready. He gasped when he realized that he knew the man; he wouldn't forget the eyeglass anywhere.

Von Strucker…

* * *

><p>"Are you sure we can sneak past the sensors without a bunch of alarms going off?" asked Jade.<p>

Grant nodded. "Yeah, you heard your fearless leader. Besides, I can stretch over any kind of sensor, and then I might be able to re-wire them to shut off."

Matrix shrugged uneasily. "I hope so."

The cave entrance was large, tall enough for a truck. Had they entered the delivery access route? Grant studied the gate carefully before nodding to himself.

"What?" the dark-haired girl asked.

"Just watch."

The boy concentrated as he stepped up to the crack in the door. Almost immediately, he threw himself at it and turned malleable, impossibly pushing himself through the crack. Jade stared at it dumbfounded as the boy disappeared through the door.

Grant plopped onto the ground inside the steel-door, taking a moment to force his body back together. Then he turned to the security panel and was lucky that a PIN had already been entered recently. He copied the code and the door opened.

"Inside!" he yelled, and the girl rushed inside as the door shut behind her.

"Freeze!" someone said. It was one guard, only a few feet away. He hadn't even reached for the alarm.

"Gladly!" Matrix said, throwing one of her yellow speed bolts. The guard was suddenly enveloped in an aura of golden light, moving in impossibly slow motion.

Aurum threw out a fist that collided with the man's face so fast that it packed quite a punch, flinging him into the wall.

"Nice hit," Jade commented.

"You too, I guess," Grant said uneasily. The two of them headed down the road-like tunnel, heading farther into the base.

* * *

><p>Kris and Astoria rounded a corner, before suddenly whipping around, panting. Someone might have seen them, and that couldn't be a good thing.<p>

"Hey! You there!"

"Oh, God, what do we do?" asked Kris.

Astoria thought carefully. "That way!"

The two of them rushed in the opposite direction, heading straight for a room they passed that had looked almost like a lab. As soon as they were inside, they took a break to catch their breath.

Not minutes after they stopped in the empty room, filled with science equipment, beakers filled with suspiciously red liquid, and a wonderful aroma of some kind of medicine, someone tried to open the door that the two mutants blocked.

Astoria shrieked as the man hit it again. But Kris took a deep breath and tried to signal for Spice to back away from the door just as the man who was trying to come in was going to rush inside.

"Now!" Kris exclaimed, the two of them shooting off of the door.

It worked, because as they suddenly stopped exerting a force on the door, a six-foot-tall man with pale skin and shoulder-length blond haired stumbled into the room.

Spice blasted outward with blue flames without thinking, forcing the man to recover and dodge.

"Oh, you have tricks? I'm not exactly sure who you kids are, but you should probably leave," explained the man with ice-blue eyes.

"Leave? Yeah, right!" he gestured for Astoria to hit him.

The girl stunned the man when she turned and shot flame after flame at the Asian boy, charging him with a fiery orange aura. When Kris nodded, she stopped and the two of them started to launch heat and fire at the surprised guard.

But when the man gestured with a hand, something grabbed his arm and held it in the air. Astoria was yanked around the neck like a noose.

It took Sparkplug a moment to realize what was happening, and to smell the iron-rich scent in the air. It seemed that the man was manipulating the red liquid that had been in those beakers, holding them like they were nothing. Blood swirled around both of Kris's hands and around Astoria's neck, choking her.

"I don't think either of you realize how many different ways I could have killed you the moment that I walked through that door," said the man, stepping forward while leaving his hand gestured towards the blood holding them hostage. "I could have forced the blood in your heart to expand until your chest exploded," he said, standing in front of the Asian boy. "Or expanded all of your blood vessels at once."

"But that would not be fun," Astoria said, barely able to breathe. She still had that ever-present smile on her face, her blue-bangs hanging haphazardly around her eyes.

"No, I suppose not," the man said truthfully. He held up his arms as though to simply shrug, but one of his fingers grazed Kris's chin. Orange sparks surged through the man's body for an instant, reducing his focus as he doubled in power.

The two young mutants were suddenly free, as the man struggled to contain himself. His own blood seemed to be spiraling inside his body, bulging out at the seams. He started to scream, and that's when Astoria and Sparkplug fled the room, heading deeper into the mountain base.

"What the heck was that?" asked Spice, startled and aloof.

"I have no clue, but I guess not having any control sometimes paid off."

* * *

><p>Echo and Belle watched carefully through a tiny crack in the door, searching for anything that looked like it could be Rebirth. Tristan had let them all know what to expect, so they were looking for a room that held a huge glass tube big enough for a person to stand in.<p>

"Geez, this is crazy, isn't it?" asked Rivera, peering into another room on the opposite side.

"What is?"

"The fact that we're here, inside a top secret spy base, with armed guards and lots of craziness," the X-Man explained.

Lily shrugged. "It's not that crazy. I've done stuff like this with Sabretooth before." She stopped and suddenly sniffed. "Death?"

The beast-like girl stalked closer, the heroine at her heels. The dark walls of the caverns were so dreary and dim that it was difficult to see a few feet in front of them: Rivera was lucky that Belle had such good senses.

Belle pushed open a door quietly and froze, the smell of dead flesh so strong that it was appalling. Rivera wanted to faint; what in the world could cause something like this?

Someone laughed. The idea of someone laughing inside a room that smelled like dead bodies appalled Echo.

"You're getting better at this," said a female voice.

"Really?" asked another excitedly. Sounded like a girl, possibly Rivera's age.

"Yep. You are taking more and more of their life force each time we do one of these sessions," explained the first voice. An adult. "You used to only make them woozy, and now you put them in a coma. I call that progress."

Rivera shot a look at Belle, who was equally terrified. Before they could even turn around to run far away, the source of the first voice appeared, looking at them.

She was a tall, athletic woman in her late twenties with cold blue eyes and white-blond hair. She looked positively frightening, even from here. Something inside the two girls made them want to cower in fear and run far away.

"Who do we have here? Intruders?" she asked, her voice as cold as her appearance. "Ah, well, you arrived just in time. I was rather hungry."

The two mutants glanced at each other in shock before turning on their heels and rushing as fast as they could away from the freaky women.

"That was too weird!" exclaimed Rivera as she ran, twisting around a corner. But when a black-haired girl who smelled suspiciously like sunscreen shot in front of them, they turned suddenly.

But there the woman was. Blocking them. Now they were standing in a hallway with a killer and girl who could send people into comas.

"Oh, god, what do we do?" asked Rivera.

Lily clenched her fist and immediately beasted-out, growing three feet of height and lots of muscle, her body covered with near-black fur. "We fight! What else can we do?"

The other girl looked at them curiously, her hands covered with black gloves. "There's nothing you two can do, no matter how you change the way you look. Me and Echidna are stronger, faster, and smarter than you. It will be child's play to take you down." The girl grabbed for her gloves.

Rivera thought fast, immediately creating two clones on either side of the girl. She seemed only momentarily startled, and the two clones reached out to pin the girl before she could take off the gloves.

They slammed her hard against the gray wall, and one clone, Maya, punched the girl repeatedly in the stomach. She fell short of breath, but managed to yank the glove off of her right hand and reach out.

The skin landed on the clone's face. Rivera felt the drain, and reflexively yanked the clone back into her mind with a white flash of light. The girl whipped out to grab the other clone, but Echo recalled that one too.

"Interesting powers," the girl said. "Is that all you can do?"

Rivera shook her head in defiance, but it was as though one-third of her had been sucked away. "No…" Thinking fast, and of what Logan would do in this situation, she ran her eyes along the wall…. Reaching with her right hand, she yanked a portion of it out of the wall socket and was now brandishing a thin metal pipe. She cloned herself, and now there were two Riveras, each with identical weapons; she made sure not to call on Chayce, for fear of what would happen if the drained girl materialized. "I can do this too. Let's see how good you are now. I was trained by a master, you know."

The girl smirked, before rushing the X-Woman. Lily and the other woman, Echidna, simply watched the fight go on.

The girl ducked one strike, whipped her torso around and slammed her elbow against the next strike, flinging it away from her. She made a leap to the left and pushed off the wall, flipping through the air and landing behind one of the Riveras.

She reached to tap the exposed neck, but as she did, her fingers were suddenly struck by the weapon.

"It's going to take more than that," said Rivera, looking like a trained swordswoman. She supposed she was, since she was channeling her mimicking abilities for fighting styles. "It's two on one."

The girl smirked before launching herself at her opponent.

"Aren't you going to attack me?" asked Lily to Echidna, who had simply watched the younger agent fight.

Echidna shrugged. "The first move is all yours."

Lily grimaced. Her brain was firing randomly, thinking off all the ways she could simply destroy her opponent but her fear of what the woman's powers was simply intimidating. She was afraid of getting in close, since the other agent could only use her powers when she was touching someone.

Finally, thinking of what her father would have done in this situation, she suddenly rushed forward, building up anger as she went. The woman's face brightened and started to backpedal quickly, much faster than Lily would have thought possible. Belle lashed out with her strong paws, but Echidna dipped before walking away even faster, her eyes never moving from the oncoming mutant.

Lily grew frustrated as she tried to fight the woman, who simply kept evading her. She felt a burst of energy come from somewhere and growled, before beginning a new and faster onslaught. She managed to hit Echidna once, slamming the woman into the wall with her impressive strength.

But Lily's excitement about landing a blow was quickly stopped as she realized she was getting weaker. Weaker and weaker. She found it hard to breathe, to even stand.

Echidna smirked. "You can feel it, can't you?" When Lily was about to defend herself, the woman raised a palm. "I admire your spunk, kid, so I'll make it easier for you. My powers don't work the same way as Eight's over there. I feed off of negative emotions and inner turmoil. Fear and anger are the best. But I don't have to touch you to do it, and if I take too much, you'll die. Plain and simple. Does that give you any ideas how to best me?"

Lily had never prided herself with being smart, so she didn't even bother thinking about it and renewed her efforts. One fist hit Echidna's shoulder, the woman ricocheting into the wall. Lily couldn't help but notice the energy drain from her even faster.

"If you keep this up, kid, you'll die," warned Echidna.

Lily was thinking in her mind that her slight healing factor would protect her. But it didn't seem to be getting better. Only worse.

"I don't care! I refuse to lose!" An enraged Lily made to move once more, but her legs felt like jelly. She collapsed onto her knees, no longer able to keep upright. Her brain was now in overdrive, trying to understand what in the world was going on.

"Stop struggling," advised Echidna. "While I greatly enjoy the youthful energy I'm getting from you, I don't want to kill you. Stop trying to best me with strength and use your head. Brains over brawn."

Lily thought about the woman's words. Her warnings. Feeds off of negative emotions…. The idea struck her harder than one of her father's punches.

"I think I understand now," Lily said, feeling stronger already. "I'm not scared of you. I'm not angry at you. I refuse to give up, and I refuse to feel anything!"

With newfound energy, Belle pounced.

* * *

><p>"If I were a machine able to genetically alter people, where would I be?" whispered Archie, rubbing his chin.<p>

"I don't know, but if it's near a kitchen filled with cookies and cakes and hotdogs and hamburgers, I'll be happy," added Alex, rubbing his growling stomach.

While they didn't particularly enjoy working together, especially after what happened with Archie while he had been briefly on the team, they seemed to be getting along. No arguments anyways.

They turned down a passageway and stopped, knowing they'd been spotted. There were six soldiers, all dressed uniformly and carrying guns. Both knew they couldn't run, so they decided to fight first.

Dynamo charged energy into his hands and fired quickly, flinging two of them into the wall, leaving an impressive dent. Madidus fixated his mind on the pipes around him, and suddenly, water burst from them and surrounded the hydrokinetic. He gestured towards one man and threw him down the hall like a flooding wave.

One of the remaining men yanked up his gun and aimed directly at the two of them. He pulled the trigger faster than they could stop. Bullets seemed to spray just as another green blast of energy was launched from Alex's hands.

The stinging pain brought Alex to his knees, and he knew he'd been hit in the thigh. He looked up to see water holding the remaining men in chokeholds and the melted remains of the gun from Alex's last blast.

"Oh, God, are you okay?" asked Archie, looking concernedly at him.

"Aww, you _do_ care!" the energy manipulator said dramatically. "I'll be fine. My healing factor will take care of it, but we probably need to get somewhere safe."

Archie nodded and knocked the remaining men unconscious with a flick of his wrist, before finding what looked to be a supply closet. He helped Alex into the dark closet and shut the door behind him, hoping to hide out while Alex could heal.

"Here, let's take a look at it," Archie suggested, wanting to see a bullet wound. He wondered if it really looked like it did on movies.

Alex nodded and pulled away the leather-spandex pants as best as he could, revealing his pokémon boxers.

"Seriously?"

The X-Man laughed painfully. "I picked a bad day to wear these."

Archie looked down to see the rounded hole of torn flesh only a few inches away from the boy's waist. It was bleeding profusely, and from what he knew about anatomy, he didn't think the bullet hit any major arteries.

"Oh, crap," the energy manipulator said, just as green light began to glow all around the wound. "There's no…exit."

"Well, it'll still heal, right?" asked Archie, now worried.

Alex pried at the wound with his fingers, grunting in pain. "The surface will… but…bullet would… stay. That would be… horrible."

"Won't your powers like… push it out?"

Alex rolled his eyes. "This isn't…the movies." He stuck his fingers in the wound that seemed to be changing colors under the green glow, grunting loudly but refusing to scream. If he didn't do it soon enough, the skin would seal shut and he might have to have surgery just to remove the bullet.

Archie pushed away the boy's hands. "Let me do it. You're hurting yourself!"

Alex rolled his eyes, panting and moaning. "Like…you…could do any… better."

The Brotherhood member looked around to see a sink on the wall next to him. Not sure if this would work or not, he opened the faucet and collected some water in a small sphere, holding it over his palm. He made it as dense as he could, enough that it might help.

"Stop digging in your leg and let me try this."

Alex let him do his thing, trying to control his breathing. He watched the hydrokinetic lower the sphere until it was touching the surface of the skin.

Immediately, Alex felt the burn. But he merely winced and clenched his teeth shut, nearly biting his own tongue as a distraction. The feeling was excruciating… he could feel the super-dense ball of water pushing nerve endings and blood vessels away, despite its careful descent.

"Not much more," Archie said, extending some of the sphere's contents like an arm to feel for anything obstructive, anything that would be in the way. He was doing his best to clear a path for the bullet, because he was certain that it would hurt a lot more if the wound that was trying to close itself was suddenly harmed again as the bullet was yanked away.

Finally, the water touched a hard knot and stopped. Archie had never been so precise, carefully pushing tiny tendrils of water through the space where the bullet was embedded. It was a painfully long time for the X-Man, and his breathing seemed to get louder and louder as time went on.

When Archie was certain that the tiny metal tip was covered completely by a film of water, he pushed the molecules as closely together as he could and started to recall them.

Thankfully, the bullet moved. Alex wailed uncontrollably as the bullet moved up the few inches between comfort and pain. Finally, the bullet was visible in the air, floating within the hardened sphere of water. Alex sighed with relief and stayed stock still, channeling everything he had into staying conscious and healing the hole as soon as possible.

"Want to keep it?" asked Archie. "I could be a cool souvenir. You did get shot, after all."

Alex only hinted at a smile, too tired to concentrate enough to talk.

* * *

><p>Ava watched Tristan as the two of them skirted along the walls of the cavern, not too far from where the main room was, according to the boy.<p>

The Storm Siren had been surprised when Tristan explained his story on the way to the base. His father used to lead HYDRA. His older half-siblings died when he was younger, leading his father to simply give up on life. Arsenal was born of a simple, common woman whom Strucker had come to love. Tristan learned of him, joined HYDRA to come to know him, but the man left soon after. Disappearing from the Supreme HYDRA position because his second-in-command told him too. Now she was in control, and he wanted revenge for her pushing Strucker away.

"Come on, Rebirth should be down the hall. To the right."

Ava followed him, thankful that their entry had been smooth sailing so far. Tristan had to take out two guards at the southern entrance to the mountain base, and Ava had to make sure that he hadn't… killed them. He _was_ an assassin after all….

"How do you know?"

He pointed to the PDA. "The signal is getting stronger."

She nodded and continued on behind him, heading to the right. They passed through an arch into a larger room, lined with weapons. An armory? Tristan led her through the gun-filled room and through another hallway.

"Hey! Who are you?" exclaimed a voice from behind them.

Tristan whipped around and fired a red dart-like blast of energy, travelling much quicker and more accurate than anything Alex had ever fired; it made Ava a little bit nervous to think the two of them used their similar powers in such different ways.

The blast hit the man's forehead, burning the surface layers and snapping his head back.

"Come on, let's go before he recovers," Tristan said, grabbing her hand.

Ava couldn't help but like the feeling, but she felt slightly weird about it. Sure, she was going to the dance with him, so that sort of made everything a bit more awkward around him. She knew how she felt, but the boy was sort of funny and charming… She didn't really know what to think at this point.

They hurried through another nondescript hallway with several rooms along each wall. He held the sensor in his hand and it seemed to beep loud enough she could hear it this time.

He turned to the right and immediately grabbed the door. Didn't open.

Figures.

"Damn," he said with a grimace. "I'm positive that it's in here."

Ava frowned and fiddled with the door locking mechanism, an electronic box on the right of the doorknob. "Maybe I can short it out?"

Tristan shook his head. "You could cause a power outage. And I'd rather not get stuck inside a mountain base with no lights."

Ava snickered, surprised she could even laugh with the adrenaline pumping through her veins. "Scared of the dark?"

Tristan rolled his eyes, but Ava could see the hint of a blush on his face.

"If it makes you feel any better, I can't stand spiders."

Tristan sighed. "But _no one_ likes spiders."

"Tell that to Grant," she said with a shiver at the memory. "He and Keiko studied one back before school started, and that thing was huge! He walked around for a week with it in a jar, just to spite me."

He smiled, but the urgency of the situation seemed to catch up to him. "All right, do it. Maybe there's a back-up generator or something."

She nodded, generating a small current of pink-hued electricity around her hand. The X-Woman touched the metallic box locking the door, and immediately, there was a flash of light. The lock failed, and the door clicked. Tristan opened the door, just as the lights flickered off.

"Shit," he muttered under his breath, freezing up under the tension. Doing what her instincts told her, she reached for his hand and took it into her own, and he seemed shocked at first before squeezing her hand. She squeezed back.

The lights suddenly flashed back on, dimmer than before. Back-ups? Either way, the light revealed two embarrassed teens, and Tristan pulled his hand away very quickly. They awkwardly smiled at each other before looking at the door.

Ava gestured for him to go first. He pushed the door the rest of the way, and they entered a large room with an apparatus that matched Tristan's description of the machine.

"Long time, no see," he said to the machine, thinking of his last visit to the genetic stabilizer, which ended with him being shot in the arm. He could feel the scar on his arm, causing him to shiver.

"This is it, huh?" asked Ava.

Tristan nodded. "Yep. Now, let's destroy it before we lose our chance." He told her of the plan of how to destroy the machine without setting off a chain reaction that could bring the mountain down on top of them.

She nodded, channeling air around her. A small cloud formed over the device, not as strong as one she could create if she was in the open sky. Tristan waved his hands over his arms, performing his regular reloading ritual. The tattoos on his arms disappeared, but she could see him droop as though the effort took energy from him.

"Ready?"

She nodded, immediately loosing a bolt of amaranth energy from the dark, swirling cloud. It struck the very top of the machine, energy flowing all the way through it giving it a pink aura.

Tristan formed a fist with his left hand, and pointed at it with his right. He fired three calculated shots in certain places, the electricity weakening their integrity and helping the energy flow fluidly.

He raised his fist and pulled it back like he was ready to punch someone. A red glow surrounded it, before he punched the air before him.

A huge, thick beam of energy flowed from his fist to the machine in an instant. The two mutants jumped to the floor and covered their heads, as the device exploded with a loud boom, shaking the foundation under them. She cried out in pain.

* * *

><p><strong>And that's all folks! :D Next week is the conclusion. I would have posted it all at once, but 8000 words is MUCH long enough without adding 4000 more. I hope you enjoyed it. <strong>

**Shout-Out to Spaceman, XxCloudyxX, and All Knowing 1 for their HYDRA characters. Some of them featured more than others, but all of them were in this chapter and the next one. HYDRA and SHIELD should be coming up later on in Season Three sometime, so I hope to include the agents of the two organizations on a much more focused level then, as opposed to being about the X-Men and Brotherhood. **


	32. Operation Rebirth: The Drums of War

**Operation: Rebirth  
>The Drums of War<strong>

"You okay?" Tristan asked, the evidence of the explosion written all across his face in smudgy smoke.

Ava shook her head, and pointed at her right shoulder with her left hand. There was a piece of metal about the size of a pocket knife sticking from her shoulder, almost two, three inches deep.

The boy's eyes widened. "Oh… no."

She laid flat and kept her arm stock still, afraid to move it; tears stemmed around her eyes, but the adrenaline seemed to be dulling the pain. "Just yank it out. Then you're going to… burn it to stop the bleeding."

Tristan looked unsteadily at her. "Are you sure?"

She nodded. "Do it."

The Brotherhood member tentatively reached for it. He looked at her face once last time before gripping the shard and pulling it from her shoulder quickly. She reflexively jerked and groaned, barely fighting the urge to scream. Blood pooled on the ground beneath her, and Arsenal pointed at the wound.

Firing a quick blast of red energy, she cried out as it hit accurately, tears streaming down her face. Somewhat guiltily, he fired one more for good measure, apologizing as it drained him more. He'd have trouble if he needed to blast someone for the next hour, while he recovered.

"It's done," the boy said, nearly gagging at the smell of burnt flesh.

"Thank… you," Ava said sincerely, panting and looking at Tristan with just a bit of a new light. She kept her arm steady as Tristan pulled her up.

"No problem, I guess," he said sheepishly. The leader of the Brotherhood turned to the place where Rebirth once stood. "Well, at least it's destroyed now, and your arm is okay. And there wasn't a cave-in!"

The remains of the machine were charred and completely ruined, unusable and unsalvageable. The energy from Tristan's last attack left him barely capable of walking, and he knew he would feel this way for several hours.

"Come on, let's get ready to find the others."

Ava nodded weakly, her arm throbbing.

* * *

><p>Wolverine wanted to destroy the man who had walked through that door not a moment before. His claws ached to run through the man who had caused him such incomprehensible pain before. He didn't know why exactly, but his ultimate desire for the man's head to be at his feet nearly disturbed him.<p>

Every weapon in the entire place was suddenly turned on him, except for the few men that surrounded him. Viper, the green-haired woman sitting in the large throne-like chair, stood along with her personal bodyguard, a man in a white tuxedo with short black hair. There was something about him that screamed mutant.

"Strucker," said the sultry-voiced woman. She flexed the red glove-like device over her right hand, and it seemed to glow slightly. "What brings you to my humble base?"

"Ah, yes, Viper," said the man. "I see you are still holding onto my Claw. I can't thank you enough for doing so. I'd hate to see it in the wrong hands."

She rolled her eyes. "It was in the wrong hands when you had it, old man."

The Baron laughed. "I suppose if you see it that way, then it was. But do you really think you are more worthy of holding it than I am? Of running HYDRA more than me, the great Red Skull's chosen successor? Had you stayed faithful to me instead of conniving your way into the position, perhaps I would have allowed you to be my successor, when I became no longer capable of leading."

Viper scoffed. "Your time to lead _is_ over, Baron." She pointed to the people standing around him. "Did you take these from the base you destroyed in New York?"

The Baron's brow rose in surprise. "I don't know what you're talking about. SHIELD was responsible for that."

She frowned. Logan watched as the events unfolded, surprised that this was happening now, of all times. Diversion? And had SHIELD really taken action against HYDRA?

Before any of them could continue, the lights in the room flickered once, before flashing off suddenly. Logan was surprised, but instinctually, he leapt off the wall and rushed towards the center of the room, where the Baron and Viper were having their stand-off. The logical part of him warned that he should grab the Claw and get out of here. But his desire for revenge was so great that he ran right for the Baron.

His own adamantium claws suddenly appeared, ready to lash out at the sight of blood. But before he could reach swinging range, the lights suddenly flickered on and he was revealed to be standing in the center of the room, all guns fixed on him.

"Damn," he cursed, stopping. He held his hands up in surrender, knowing that if it came between him and several trained gunmen, he'd rather take the him. His claws retracted.

To say those in the room were surprised would be an understatement. Viper's eyes were extremely wide, and the man with the tuxedo had suddenly stepped in front of her. The Baron had an amused expression on his face, and all of his own gunmen were pointed directly at his head and chest.

"Weapon X?" asked Viper, shocked and trembling.

Logan growled, which made the soldiers fidget and aim harder.

"Ah, Wolverine," Strucker said. "It's very nice to meet you again, although I had hoped it would be under better circumstances. You know, with you not trying to skewer me while I'm not looking."

Logan was about to grunt a reply, but suddenly, a loud _boom _shook the room. His eyes widened, wondering who it could be.

Viper barked out an order for someone named Cobra and Wipeout to go and investigate. "Did you do this, Baron?" she exclaimed.

The man shook his head. "No, sadly, I can't take credit for this. I think you ought to ask our resident X-Man."

Viper walked up to Wolverine, seemingly not caring if she was in range of his swings. He didn't dare move. "Who else is with you? What's going on?"

"No one," he barked, but suddenly, she grabbed his face with the Claw, absorbing energy from him while glowing with red light. He drooped, no longer able to stand straight when she finally let him go. "I swear."

The Baron waved off his answer. "A group of mutant children have now destroyed Rebirth, Viper."

Her eyes widened. The loss of the machine was a huge blow. "How do you know that?"

He merely shrugged. Viper turned to her guard, the man in the white suit. "GameBreaker, keep them busy and don't let them move a muscle."

The white-suited man nodded. But as she turned around, the Baron chuckled.

"Why are you laughing?" she demanded, whipping around to face him.

"Because my plan is about to come to fruition," the Baron said. "Voice command: lock and deactivate."

The Claw suddenly shook in Viper's hand, before the interlocking metallic plates that formed the glove suddenly shut and clamped on her arm. She screamed in pain as it cut off the circulation in her hand, before finally switching off.

"How…dare…you! Fire at will!" she ordered.

But the soldiers didn't even move. Her trained gunmen were suddenly aimed at her, and the Baron smiled.

"I replaced the guards in this place with men of my own," explained Strucker, suddenly walking forward. GameBreaker stepped between them, forcing him to stop. "I suppose you're going to be rather bothersome, aren't you? But I wonder… can you see the future fast enough to dodge bullets?"

GameBreaker smirked, but Logan could tell that he was feeling apprehensive. "I guess you'll have to find out, won't you?"

When Logan realized none of the guards were pointing at him anymore, he thought quickly through several options. The Claw… he couldn't let it get in the Baron's hands. But the kids were somewhere, and two trained assassins were after them.

He sighed, wishing that he could do both options. But protecting the little ones, even if they were so utterly stupid, was the smartest option.

He slipped away from the room, fast enough that no one noticed him leave until the last second. But it was too late for HYDRA to catch him now, and Weapon X was rushing through the halls to find the dumbest, bravest kids on the planet.

* * *

><p>Rivera was bleeding profusely now, her energy drained. Both Maya and Chayce had been taken down, and now she was like one-third of a person, unable to summon anything else to help. Echidna and Eight, the two life-force draining mutant HYDRA agents, were proving to be strong opponents for the two teenage girls.<p>

Rivera had never been more scared in her life. Eight was still running strong, having renewed herself after draining the two clones. Echidna, on the other hand, seemed to be faring badly with Lily.

Belle was as calm as Rivera had ever seen her, a strange thing for the usually temperamental girl. Echidna seemed to be getting weaker, and Lily was remaining the same.

Belle leaped from the ground and landed on Echidna's shoulders with her hard feet-paws, the weight enough to send the woman stumbling to the ground. Lily rolled and recovered fast enough to land on top of the struggling woman, pinning her to the ground.

"Impressive," Echidna commented. "But pointless."

Rivera suddenly felt herself growing weaker, but no one had touched her. She swung her pipe-sword in a move Logan had shown her, but it was noticeably slower than before. How had Eight drained from her?

But it hit her like a freight train when she heard Belle's frenzied breathing nearby.

Echidna was using her fear to gain strength, leaving Echo as a much bigger target. The younger HYDRA agent snickered before reaching for her, and even Rivera's reaction speed had been reduced.

The woman suddenly shoved Lily off of her and rose as though she had never been fighting this whole time. Rivera grew sluggish, sloppy, but she knew she had to stop being scared so Echidna couldn't emotionally drain her.

"You're a rather good fighter," Eight said. "How do you know all these moves?"

"I can… copy anything I've ever seen," explained Rivera, panting. "Movies, people, anything. Except other powers."

Eight nodded, lashing out with her hands. Rivera twisted and dodged the grab, before swinging her sword with the intention of breaking fingers, but she was too weak.

"It was a good try," said Eight. "This will not end well for you."

Another barrage of blows on both fights left both Echo and Belle feeling defeated, and it was all either of them could do to not give up. But before they knew it, hope showed itself in the appearance of blue flames.

Spice appeared around the corner, blue fire spurting from her palms. She swung her fist and fireballs launched at the two HYDRA agents, who were now backtracking away from the battle, their attention focused entirely on the Goth.

Rivera watched thankfully as Sparkplug suddenly appeared behind them both, before reaching out and slamming their heads together. They fell to the ground unconscious.

"Hmm… I was surprised that I had the angles just right," Kris said with a proud smile. "I guess all the tutoring from Grant is helping somewhat.

"Oh, thank God!" Rivera said as Astoria extinguished her flames. "You guys showed up just in time…"

Lily merely grunted in thanks.

"It was no problem," explained Astoria. Before any of them could comment further, an explosion suddenly went off in the distance.

"That's not good," Kris muttered. "Let's go that way!"

* * *

><p>Jade had heard the explosion, shaking her very core. Could that be one of the other kids? Or maybe Wolverine?<p>

They'd had to evade two groups of approaching men already, and thankfully, they had gone unnoticed. But as they approached closer and closer to where they thought the explosion had happened, there seemed to be less activity.

"Strange," Grant muttered.

Jade studied the "nerd" of the X-Geeks. He didn't seem so bad, after spending some time with him. Maybe he didn't speak as much about science as everyone thought.

"Maybe it's just the low acoustics of the base, but does it seem quieter to you?"

She nodded, rolling her eyes at the word 'acoustics'. "Yeah." But footsteps approaching, two sets, suddenly shook the two of them.

They bent around the corner and saw two men dressed in all black suits trying to be stealthy, approaching an open door. Smoke seemed to be rushing out of the cracks, and Jade realized that was where the explosion had happened.

"Follow me," she whispered, creeping forward and keeping to the walls to avoid notice. He crept behind her uneasily, not sure if it was a good idea. He had never been too great at Logan's stealth exercises.

The two men were now very close to the door and had stopped, just outside. They suddenly pulled out guns, shocking both of them.

"Slow them down!" Grant whispered.

She shook her head. "I can't, it will give us away!" Her mind flickered back to the event a few weeks ago, when she had slowed the whole city block with her powers. Could she do it again? She had tried before and was unable, but maybe with drastic measures, she would be able to?

The men stalked into the room, guns loaded and carried firmly in their hands. Jade crept closer, and when she heard familiar voices, her eyes widened.

Rushing forward suddenly, her hands tight around the nerdy mutant's wrist, she stopped in the doorway, just as the two stealthy men raised guns at their friends.

Grant noticed it just as fast as she did, and immediately tensed, worried. He let go suddenly, afraid of what would happen, but Jade suddenly waved her hands.

Yellow light flashed outward in all directions, just as the trigger was pulled. She had slowed everything down so fast that she watched the two soldiers fire their guns, watched the flames emitted from the barrels. Everything was in such slow motion that she could outrun the bullet while walking in a slow pace.

Thinking fast, before her powerful speed bolt faded away, she hammer-fisted both men in the back of their necks, and knocked out their knees from behind. They started to fall in slow motion as she pried the guns from their slowed fingers and threw them into the hallway behind a slowed Grant.

She wrapped her sleeve around her fist and found the bullets, only halfway to their targets now. Two whirring caps of death headed right for Ava and Tristan, but she hit both of them with her fist, knocking them into the ground harmlessly. They seemed to lose their momentum when they touched her body, and she was thankful that they stopped speeding along.

The yellow glow around everything suddenly faded, and the two men fell to the ground. Ava and Tristan turned in surprise, having reacted to the gunshot, and a startled Tempest hit both of the men named Cobra and Wipeout with electricity so fast that they couldn't even recover from anything.

"Whoa," Arsenal said. "That was a close one. Where'd you come from?"

She pointed at her chest. "I used one of my slow-bolts to slow down everything, even the bullets these guys fired. I saved you."

The two teens smiled and thanked both Grant and Jade appreciatively. "We were just about to turn around to leave," explained Tempest. "We destroyed Rebirth."

The machine was blown to bits, and it had been them as the cause of the explosion. It made Jade feel better that no one else had been hurt in it.

"Let's find the others, and Logan, and get out of here," said Ava. She looked to Jade once more. "Thank you. It really does mean a lot."

The Brotherhood girl only grinned.

* * *

><p>Logan raced through the annoying maze-like halls, surprised that it was this built up. He sniffed the air and realized that some of the kids must be here. He followed his nose until he finally came upon a smaller door.<p>

He opened it slightly and sniffed, before looking down to see Alex lying on the floor, with his pants down, and Archie kneeling next to him. He gaped at them, bewildered.

"I'll give you two a minute to… finish up." He caught their mortified faces as he shut the door calmly.

* * *

><p>"I smell the smoke, so we must be close," said Belle.<p>

The four mutants, both Brotherhood and X-Men alike, headed further into the base. Finally, they reached the source of the explosion, and ran right into four of the others.

They related their stories to one another briefly, while heading as far away from the ruined Rebirth as possible.

"Has anyone seen Logan?" asked Ava. "Belle, can you sniff him out?"

She did so and pointed. "Yeah, I think so. It smells like he's this way."

The eight mutants headed into the next hallway, and finally caught sight of Alex, Archie, and Logan standing there, not talking to one another. Alex looked to be in pain, and Archie just looked embarrassed.

Logan shot them all a disapproving look, before ushering them down the hallway towards the nearest exit. "Hurry, hurry!"

As they left the mountain base and entered the open sky, Logan pointed to the direction of the jet. "Everyone, go that way."

"What about… the Velocity?" asked Alex between grunts in pain. His bullet wound had healed for the most part, thanks to Archie, but the pain would still be there for the next few days.

"I'll have SHIELD pick it up," explained Wolverine. "Besides, not a single one of you will be avoiding my lecture on the way home. Now, MOVE!"

They hurried faster than they'd ever ran before, spurred by an annoyed Wolverine and even more disappointed Logan.

* * *

><p>Von Strucker looked down at Viper's mutant bodyguard, a gun-shot wound in his shoulder, staining the left sleeve red. GameBreaker had been impressive in a fight, and would prove to be a worthy member of his new regime.<p>

Two soldiers had held Viper down while he unlocked the Satan's Claw and pulled it off of her arm.

"It's a pity," he said, pulling it onto his own hand. It glowed appreciatively as it found its rightful place. "It did look rather good on you. My first order of business as the new Supreme HYDRA is to eliminate any internal threats." He picked up Viper around the neck, holding her tightly within the Claw's grasp. She groaned and struggled, but he gripped tighter. "I thought about locking you up, but I heard prison uniforms would not be flattering, even on a woman as beautiful as you." He frowned. "You know, it's certainly fitting; after all, you'll be helping me into my new role after all."

The red light glowed around the Claw, and Viper felt her energy fade away…

* * *

><p>"You will not be participating in any school functions for at least two weeks," said Keiko.<p>

"Homework has to be signed by me each night," added Beast. "And you have to have something every night."

"And don't even think about skipping your triple sessions with me for the next six," added Logan.

"Your chores will be doubled until further notice," Storm explained.

"And each of you will have to explain why what you did was wrong in a five-page essay that I expect to be done by the end of the week," explained Xavier.

The five senior Institute students nodded complacently. All were feeling upset and guilty for putting them through this. Regardless of what happened or how they helped the situation, what they did was stupid.

And the Brotherhood weren't under Logan's direct jurisdiction and couldn't be punished for it, and that was probably the worst part of it.

"Now, run along and get some rest. It's a new day tomorrow," Xavier said waving them off. The five students left the room with sullen expressions.

Camille was upstairs, wanting answers and stories. She sat through their lengthy explanations, listening intently.

"Why didn't you guys let me know you were going?" she asked. "I could have helped! You guys know what HYDRA is to me!"

Ava looked at her solemnly. "You should just be grateful that you don't have to handle triple-session hell with Logan."

"Or have to write essays," Kris complained. "I hate writing."

"Or heck, at least you didn't get caught in an embarrassing situation by Logan," Alex said. "I swear, he thought your brother and I were doing unspeakable things in a broom closet."

That earned a laugh from the rest of them, but Camille refused.

"But they're the guys who tortured me! You should have let me know about it!"

"We're sorry, Camille, but we've been through a mission or two," explained Rivera.

She was furious, so angry that she started to lose her shape and turn into sludge at her edges.

"You're dripping," Grant pointed out.

Camille rolled her eyes, took a deep breath, and stormed off.

Rivera held the ice pack to her head a bit closer. "I would follow her, but I'm too exhausted to think right now."

Ava frowned. "She should just be glad that we aren't dead. Can't she accept that?"

Grant wisely thumbed his chin. "Her whole life was basically one big torture session from them. She may as well be angry at us. Better at us than at the wrong people."

* * *

><p>"What are we going to do with them?" asked Storm.<p>

"I don't know," said Xavier. "I realize that they have been in situations like this before, but this was different. One of the students was shot, another stabbed, and it could have been a lot worse."

"Definitely," agreed Logan. "Those HYDRA punks are serious business. And I have a feeling it's gonna be a lot worse from here on out."

"I am surprised that the Brotherhood worked so well with them," wondered Keiko, pushing her hair back into place.

Beast shook his head. "I'm not shocked at all, actually. They have good intentions, when, as the saying goes, the going gets rough."

Xavier nodded, smirking at his reference. "I absolutely agree. Perhaps only time will tell how things will work themselves out."

A knock at the door surprised them. Storm opened the door, thinking one of the children had come to ask something. A man with an eye-patch and short gray hair stepped into the office, dressed in a black combat uniform.

Wolverine had to fight not to growl. "Patchy…?"

"Agent Fury, how are you?" asked the professor, rolling up to shake his hand.

"I'm doing well, Charles. And you all?"

The rest of them nodded.

"I figure ya want an update, huh?" suggested Logan.

Fury nodded. "How did things go? Did you retrieve the Claw?"

Logan relayed the whole story of how it was intended to be a stealth operation, but the great Baron interrupted and the kids got in the way. "We told them not to go, and we've punished 'em, but the kids showing up probably saved my life."

Fury had been frowning through much of the explanation. "Baron von Strucker's return to HYDRA is troubling, and could be quite devastating. Nex-"

Logan stood up suddenly, staring the man in the face. "No, Fury. There won't be a next time for us. If HYDRA starts stirrin' trouble, solve the damn problem on your own. I'm not a mercenary-for-hire, and because you approached me, my kids were in danger."

Ororo raised an eyebrow as the two men watched the other closely, only inches between them. None of the other faculty seemed too surprised to see an intimidating Logan.

Finally, Fury nodded more to himself than anyone else. "I understand your point, Logan, but-"

"No buts," Wolverine interrupted again, fighting the urge to release his claws. "We're done. Mutants aren't your toys anymore."

Fury frowned and walked out of the door. As he left, he called back, "Your heli-jet is outside."

* * *

><p>Tristan came home feeling rather accomplished. The Brotherhood went out for pizza with the little money they had. They felt like a celebration was in order, and while they weren't in the best of moods after being shot at and such, eventually, they were laughing and celebrating again.<p>

Tristan's phone vibrated, and he immediately pulled it out of his pocket to check the number. His eyes widened, and he headed outside to take it.

"The plan went perfectly," said the familiar voice of his father.

Tristan smirked. "Good. So you promise to leave me alone from here on out? I'm tired of HYDRA breathing down my neck; I just want to hang out with my friends and live life."

Strucker chuckled. "I suppose you would after all this time. Thank you for helping tonight. You gave me the exact diversion that I needed to get the Claw and assume Supreme again. And the seed has been planted that SHIELD destroyed the base in New York."

"Eh, you owe me one, I guess," Tristan said.

"That I do, and I won't forget that. I make it a point to make up any debts I owe, and to you, I owe many."

He hung up, and Tristan sighed before heading back inside to finish off whatever pizza they had left.

* * *

><p>Fury returned to the SHIELD Helicarrier, having received interesting news from one of the subordinates. It didn't take long for him to arrive in the investigation chambers, where a pent-up Quinn Delmond was waiting. Behind the glass window was a very old woman with sagging skin and bones that looked like toothpicks on her arms.<p>

"Director Fury," Quinn greeted.

"Reminisce," replied the leader of SHIELD. "Are we one hundred percent positive that this is her?"

"Yes, sir. Dental records have identified that this woman is Viper," explained Delmond. "The Baron's Claw left the woman in this state after absorbing nearly every bit of her life force. She's dying, Fury."

The man frowned, before gesturing to the room. "Well, then we have nothing to lose. Quinn, get started."

She nodded, entering the room gently. Viper rolled her head up slowly to watch her walk in, not sure that she could hold her head upright.

Quinn wasted no time, immediately drawing on the memories she could feel from the woman's mind. She felt the illusory shape-shifting like an itch across her skin, her form now that of the Baron.

Viper recoiled as far as she could from her chair. "Stay away from me! Please!" She was so terrified that her fingers were gripping the seat so hard that her knuckles were bright white.

"But why would I want to do that? You have some things that I need to know, and you're going to tell me," the pseudo-Baron said, raising his hand to flex the Claw. "Or I'll take the last few drops of your life force."

The woman just screamed, and Quinn knew she would get nowhere in this form. Immediately, her form became that of a younger woman who looked very similar to Viper, with nearly the same green-black hair that the former Supreme HYDRA used to have. Based on the memories, Quinn knew it was Viper's mother.

"Sweetie," cooed the illusion.

"Not possible," Viper breathed through her lips, nearly drooling like a crazy person. "You died a long time ago."

"What has HYDRA been up to? What could they be doing? You have to tell me, my wonderful daughter," Quinn said in her guise.

"I'm… so… confused," the woman said, shaking and pushing at her bindings. "Let me out of here, Mom!"

"I can't do that, honey, until you tell me what you know about HYDRA."

Seeing the desperation, confusion, and emotional pain on the woman's face, Quinn decided to take it a step further. She suddenly gripped the old woman's bony shoulder, morphing into a man Viper had killed.

"Impossible!" the woman screamed, and Quinn pressed harder and harder, knowing the pheromones would do all the work. She morphed into several more of Viper's victims, men and women that she had killed with her own hands.

Guilt and shock crept into the woman's psyche, now practically screaming about ghosts in German. She frantically struggled for several minutes through her bindings, but the agents would not let her go.

"All right, Reminisce, come back," Fury ordered after twenty minutes of fear and hopelessness being shown through Quinn's semi-hypnotic memory forms.

The woman nodded, letting her form return to normal. The fear on the old woman's face was priceless, her figure gaunt.

"Was that okay?" the young agent asked when she returned the room on the other side of the one-way mirror window.

Fury nodded. "Yes, you did well. But considering her physical age, she could die at any moment. Your interrogation could speed up the process, and we don't need that." He paused as she nodded, before clapping her on the shoulder. "Turning into her victims… that was a nice touch. You always do know how to break them."

Quinn merely shrugged, smirking. "It goes with the job. Call me in when you need me again for her."

* * *

><p><strong>How'd you like it? Let me know what you think in a review!<strong>

**I apologize for the long wait. My computer has been out of commission, and I had no way to write. But I'm back, as you can obviously tell. I hope you enjoyed it! :D**

**I also apologize for the first version of this chapter. I made an error that a friend pointed out, and I had to go back and fix it. I apologize for any inconveniences! **


	33. Retreat: Earning Her Place

**Retreat:  
>Earning Her Place<strong>

A dark, furry figure stalked through the city, his mind clouded and unsure. He'd been stuck in the mansion for so long that he had to get out of there. But now, his inner animal seemed to be guiding him, and Hank couldn't love the feel of letting himself go.

But when a patrol car appeared on the scene, following him with a searchlight, his animalistic flight response took over. He fled through the streets, not realizing that he was headed right for the school.

The night was cold and dark, even for a city, and yet Beast still found himself by the high school almost naturally. He pined for his classroom back, a symbol of his old life.

He was suddenly uprooted from the window by a siren sound in the distance, and Beast let the urge to scream into the night take over. He roared loudly and slashed outward with his claws, snapping the small tree next to him nearly in half down the middle.

He rushed away, but the police car followed steadily. He ducked into an alleyway, hoping that he'd find a reasonable escape route, but the police car kept following. He rushed to the end of the alley, only to find that it was a dead-end.

Doing the only thing he could think, his instinct shoving him into action, Beast leapt into the air, landed on the car's hood, bounded across the roof, and dashed out of sight.

The policemen inside could not have been more surprised…

* * *

><p>Dawn was breaking over the horizon, casting light into Xavier's warm office. Beast sat with his head in his hands, unsure of what to do. Keiko was idly watching from the fireplace, listening intently to his story.<p>

"I don't know what to say," the animal-like man began. "I'm so sorry about this."

Xavier rolled over to him and calmly clasped his hands together. "Well, it was bound to happen eventually."

Beast looked up with wide eyes. "What do you mean?"

"What was it last time...?" Xavier thought for a minute. "You went to a drive-in movie and hid in the bed of a pick-up truck."

McCoy looked at him coyly, before standing to watch the sunrise at the window. "I was a fool to think that I could ever leave these walls."

"Now, now, don't be hard on yourself, Hank. Your need to be out in the world is natural."

"But I don't belong there anymore," Beast argued.

Keiko patted him on the shoulder, massaging the tense muscles slowly, even with the fur. He smiled appreciatively.

"You belong only where you want to belong, Beast," said Keiko, pushing the button on her watch. Her image faded to reveal her paper-like form, looking almost like a mummy wrapped together. "Professor and I could make one for you."

He frowned, turning. "All the same, it's still hiding. Besides, if you two had seen how the rage had gotten the better of me…" He sighed, turning back to the window. "I really can't be trusted out there."

Keiko for him, knowing what it felt like to be an outsider. She'd gone years without the benefit of an image inducer; it was almost fitting that the one who had designed it was Grant, a mutant at Xavier's. Now that she had it though, she didn't think she could go back.

* * *

><p>Kris walked through the hall with Jacquelyn and Camille, but the latter wouldn't even look or talk to Kris. It had been two weeks since the HYDRA incident, but things had still not calmed down for the mud-manipulating girl. She seemed to be holding large grudges for all of them.<p>

"Stupid American Earth Science," Jacquelyn griped, making her French accent more pronounced for emphasis. It made Kris and Camille laugh, but when the girl realized he had found it funny, she stopped immediately.

"I know the feeling," Kris said, trying to ignore Mudslide's anger. "I stayed up half the night listening to some boring video online to help with my project."

Jacquelyn agreed, yawning; it was very out of character for her usually chipper self. "Yeah, I found the same one. I swear, talking about Redwood forests has got to be the most exciting thing ever discussed…"

Camille laughed at Jackie's comment, but Kris made a point not to do the same. "Oh, go on ahead. I need to head back and grab my books."

The other two nodded, heading onto the front door for classes to begin. Camille turned to head down the hallway when she overheard Beast talking in the office.

"I never asked to be a mutant," Mr. McCoy said. "Why me?"

"I think we all ask ourselves that from time to time," Keiko replied. "It's part of the human existence."

McCoy scoffed. "Because I'm the closest thing to human these days…"

Xavier rolled forward. "In order to find that answer, each of us is faced with a unique journey of discovery."

"Journey?" wondered Beast, turning back to look at him. "Where do you go when you can't be seen by the public?"

Camille looked at her own hands, wondering what it would be like to be… physically distorted. She was fortunate not to be, but what if something went wrong, and she was forced to look like mud? Camille understood what her teacher was thinking.

"Professor?" the French girl said, looking up. "I have an idea. Mr. McCoy, would you be interested?"

Beast looked back at her with interest. The professor raised a quizzical look. _What are you up to, Camille?_

_I was just thinking that he could take us to the Redwood Forest… I love nature, and I'll bet that he could stretch his legs too._

"Ah, yes, Hank, we were thinking… Perhaps you'd like to lead a field trip to the California Redwoods? Up for it?"

Hank turned to them. "What? No… I'm sorry. I can't."

Keiko urged him. "Honestly, Hank, you need to get out of this rut. Let your inner animal run free for a change. Maybe it will be a good thing."

"Let my Beast run wild with a group of children around? Yeah right."

Keiko frowned. "Maybe not completely free, but you _could_ rattle the cage a bit."

"Just think of what you could teach them in the wild, miles away from man…" Xavier said. He didn't have to read the man's mind to know that he had him.

* * *

><p>The plates and forks clinked together as some of the students ate. Beast was at the head of the table, thinking and plotting the trip. When he felt ready, he cleared his throat and explained.<p>

"It's a nature hike… a sojourn for those who are falling behind in their earth science studies." He walked around the table, seeing looks of disgruntled students, already beginning to realize that they wouldn't be able to get away from it.

But there were those who would try.

Jacquelyn started to head out the door, but he stopped her suddenly. "But come on, Beast, I've got loads of homework in other subjects to do! I'm not so good in nature…"

Kris scoffed. "Says the girl who can turn into a tiger."

Hank gave him a smile. "Don't think you're immune."

He looked at him in confusion. "But, we're still on probation for another week?"

Beast smiled. "This isn't a school function."

* * *

><p>The Velocity was parked with a small clearing, partially covered by bushes and leaves. Trees stretched up for what seemed like miles, bringing back memories for some of the students.<p>

"Wow, this place really does look like the Savage Land, doesn't it?" asked Jackie, starting to bound up the hill after the others. "I hate it already."

Haley rolled her eyes and continued her efforts, trying to cover the heli-jet without covering it too much. Vines and plants erupted around it, but she did it slowly and steadily to ensure that she didn't cause the copter to break. She took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air.

"Come on, people," Camille called out from the top of the hill. "We haven't got all day."

Masato followed her without thinking, his face impassive. Haley and Jackie were in a dispute as they moved steadily up the hill already, and the dispute was probably over something really stupid.

Camille smiled at their antics. She may be stuck on the younger squad, but she couldn't have asked for better kids. They were all uniquely qualified for this trip, and in nearly as different ways as their personalities.

"You know, you do have a good team," Kris said from beside her.

She looked away in annoyance, not sure why he felt the need to comment so much. He was trying too hard to make her like him again, after the whole HYDRA thing that her friends left her out of. It nearly made her so angry just thinking about it that she felt her skin start to itch like she was about to melt.

The French girl took a breath to calm down before continuing on, not wanting to spoil this trip that she had instigated. The fresh air was completely rejuvenating, and the sunlight felt great on her skin.

"Look, Kris, I get it," Camille began. "I'm inexperienced. But why should that matter? Why do you guys automatically get positions on the team while I get squat?"

Kris took a deep breath, preparing to answer, when Camille just pressed ahead faster. He frowned but decided not to try to answer. She needed her space.

* * *

><p>Masato and Haley worked together to pitch the campsite tents, while Kris gathered firewood. They didn't need much, since the weather was rather nice and warm, but they still faced the problem of cooking food.<p>

Masato bent down to stick one of the spikes through a hoop, but Haley waved her hands and roots burst from the ground and weaved through the hoops, holding the tent in place. The Asian boy looked at her with only a hint of appreciation, but she merely yawned from her lounging space at the base of a tree.

After the camp was set up, the next hour was spent with Beast explaining various samples and landmarks, while everyone seemed to be in anticipation of collecting samples and getting away from everyone else. Camille kept dodging Kris all day, and the boy tried to respect her space.

Beast finally stopped the group just beside a small creek, where a short spout of water rushed into a relatively deep pool, like a small waterfall. It was rushing fast, generating a bit of mist and providing just enough cool to combat the heat.

They were examining the salmon when Masato decided to push Jackie into the water, laughing as the tiger girl fell in. But when Camille suddenly snapped her fingers and the mud on the banks turned too slick for him to stand, he landed in the water with a resounding splash, way too much for a guy his size.

"Wow, someone needs to lay off the burger bombs," Kris said, laughing.

The Asian boy grimaced, rising to the top and pushing back to the shore. "Shut up, you know my powers make me weigh more."

Camille smiled, fighting her giggles. "Keep telling yourself that, kid."

Beast smiled as the teens finally decided to relax by the creek, changing into their swim suits and taking turns riding the waterfall spout like a slide. He took a deep breath and climbed up a tree nearby, swinging from the low branches.

The feeling was exhilarating, the perfect amount of adventurous risk to get his heart going. He kept up this for a while, before deciding to surprise the lounging kids by the pool. He did a somersault off of a branch and landed in the water with gusto, water rushing up to meet them.

When he poked his head on the surface, he grinned and instinctually shook to get the water out of his fur.

"Hey!" exclaimed Kris, not exactly laughing. Another student protested it, but in his disappointment, he didn't care who.

He walked away feeling lonely and upset, and got a good distance away from everyone else when Camille strode up to him, a towel wrapped around her waist.

"Are you okay, Mr. McCoy?"

He turned and smiled reassuringly. "Oh, no, Camille, I'm fine. It's just that, here, in this place, I'm enjoying the animal I've become. But I don't want to. This is not who I am."

Camille frowned, putting her arms over his shoulder. "Well, maybe it was who you were meant to be?"

He looked at with an almost sad smile. "We should head back to camp." He took her hand to comfort her and turned away. "Round up the others, okay?"

"Will do, Mr. McCoy."

Beast walked further into the trees, leaving Camille to watch him in concern.

* * *

><p>Hank headed up the creek bed, his mind in deep thought as he tried to relax and figure out all the world's problems, all at the same time. He listened to the nature around him, quite enjoying their songs, when he heard something interesting.<p>

He bent down to see a salmon stuck in the shallow waters, unable to return upstream. He smirked as he picked up the flailing fish and said, "Couldn't get back either, huh?" He placed the fish in deeper waters and watched it swim away when he heard a stick break loudly, loud enough that it didn't sound natural.

He peered around defensively, but there didn't seem to be anything wrong. He turned and climbed off the bank, but as he did, he heard rustling leaves and paused again.

Deciding that he had to be paranoid, he walked up the bank to join the kids at the campsite for the night.

If he'd only looked a little harder, he could have predicted what was going to happen.

* * *

><p>The morning sun was bright and brought a cheery mood to everyone. Except when they realized that the actual teaching was about to start.<p>

"Your first assignment is to locate five different mineral samples on your own," Beast said, prompting a groan from the students. He looked at them expectantly. "C'mon, there's plenty of time for fun later. It shouldn't take you more than an hour or so," he paused, brushing his chin fuzz, "so we'll meet back here in four hours." He smiled as they cheered, suddenly excited.

"If you need me, I'll be in the teacher's lounge," Beast said, about to turn away and leave them to it.

"Um, where's that?" asked Kris.

Beast smiled. "Uh, I haven't decided yet. See ya later!" He leapt off, leaving the X-Kids alone.

Masato started in one direction, and Haley decided to follow him, figuring he'd be the easiest to get along with.

"We're supposed to go alone," he said.

She shrugged. "Who cares? I'm going with the guy who gets powers from those minerals. And you're a pretty active student anyways."

He rolled his eyes and allowed her to follow.

Meanwhile, Camille and Jackie headed east, deciding to work together to find their collective ten samples, and Kris found himself alone.

"Well, crap." He looked up, but Masato and Haley had already disappeared, which left only Camille's group left. He took a deep breath and followed her, hoping that he wouldn't get yelled at by the feisty French girls.

* * *

><p>Beast swung through the trees, enjoying his mutative dexterity with having two sets of hands. He was trying to climb through the canopy, hoping to see the world through a new, extremely tall perspective. But when he stopped along a particularly thick branch and heard a strange, unnatural sound.<p>

"Huh?"

Looking down, McCoy saw two men on the forest floor, blowing into a weird whistle. He heard something about Big Foot and immediately panicked.

Had they seen him? Were they onto him?

He grabbed the branch with one hand and somersaulted to the ground, right behind a large boulder big enough to cover him. Using his instincts to guide him, he imitated a growl that sounded a lot better than he'd have expected he could make.

He then pushed that boulder, rolling it down the embankment until it rustled through some thick bushes, making enough of a diversion that the group of Big Foot Watchers bolted quickly.

Satisfied that he had diverted their attention, he bent down to sniff a little orange flower and smiled, before stretching his arms out wide and preparing to take a rest.

He heard the click of the hammer before the gun fired, hitting him with two tranquilizer darts in the back of the shoulder. He reached to yank them out when two more darts dropped him to his knees. Beast felt the effects of the sedative within seconds, but his animal rage at being attacked would not be contained that easily.

He rushed the men behind him, and the three of them tried to run. A portly bald man with a red beard dodged to the right, but as he tried to chase down the rest of the group, a triangular cage suddenly shot up around him. Hank reached for the bars to push them apart, but they immediately electrocuted him, making his hands burn and throb.

Angrily, he reached again before his brain finally succumbed to the sedation, and he fell to the bottom of the cage, unable to move.

* * *

><p>"Mr. McCoy!"<p>

"Mr. McCoy!"

"Beast!"

The students looked around for any sign of their blue-furred teacher, but the man was seemingly gone. Tensions mounted more and more before Camille suddenly had a bright idea.

"Jackie, can you track his scent?"

The girl looked at them with confusion for a split second before her brain suddenly clicked. "OH! I can totally do that!"

She concentrated and felt the change taking place, before there was suddenly a chest-high white tiger staring at them. Camille had to fight the instinct to turn and run for a split-second, because the sight of Jackie as a ferocious tiger was definitely worth the record books.

"Hurry, though, Tigress," Haley said, pointing up. "The trees think it's about to rain."

Everyone looked at her like she was an alien creature walking alongside them.

"What? Plants communicate with me, and they sense the rain."

Camille smiled and dismissed it. "Don't worry about Haley's weirdness. Just hurry, Jackie."

With that, the tiger nodded and sniffed, before darting off into the trees. The rest of them followed the white and black figure moving much faster than they could at a steady pace.

* * *

><p>The scientist poured a cup of hot tea over the firepit, about to take a sip when a voice startled him. "Hey."<p>

He turned to look at the blue-furred animal, now staring intently at him. "Did… you say that?"

No reply.

"Hu-man…" The man said slowly, pointing to himself and trying to see if the animal had said it or if it was just a trick. "Hu-man."

"I have to admit, this cage is brilliant," explained Beast, causing the man to immediately drop his cup of tea in pure astonishment. "I'm guessing some kind of convex polarity reversal?"

The man gasped, nearly shouting with fright and shock. "Good heavens! You _can_ speak!"

"Am I right?" asked Beast, excited to understand the cage's mechanism.

"Oh, um, yes. Convex polarity revers-" He paused, gasping. "How do you know of such things?"

McCoy smiled, rubbing his fingers together as though signifying money. "They'll give anybody a degree these days."

"You are not Big Foot, are you?"

"Now we're on the same page."

"But… then, who?"

"Hey, I'll even quote Shakespeare if you'll let me out of here," Beast offered with a hand gesture.

"Oh! Absolutely!" the scientist said, reaching for his keys and rattling them at the lock.

"What do you think you're doin'?" asked a voice from behind.

Beast and the scientist turned, and the mutant recognized the two approaching as the men who had shot at him with sedatives.

"It's the most amazing thing!" the scientist declared, turning to look at Beast. McCoy shook a head in warning, and the researcher faltered. "He can… Uh, he's able to, um, respond to sounds."

The blond haired hunter scowled pretentiously. "Pack him up. We're leavin."

Beast decided it was time for an explanation. "By now, there are others looking for me."

The researcher turned to him. "There are more like you?"

Hank shook his head. "Not exactly. We're all… special in a different way. But you can see why we need to hide ourselves from the world."

"Well don't worry. We'll find a way to release you."

* * *

><p>The X-Kids followed Jacquelyn, who was tracking Beast's scent quite well so far. The smell of fur and pine was quite distinct.<p>

Rain poured from the sky, soaking the students from head to foot. They had passed through mud and rotting logs, and finally, Jackie stopped in a field and morphed back into her human form.

"He's not far," she explained. "Just up the hill."

The others nodded. "Thanks, Jackie."

Masato frowned as they began their ascent up the relatively steep hill. "Does anyone wish that Ava had trouble with Earth Science right now?" he complained, gesturing to the sky.

"Ah, perk up. We'll be out of the Redwoods soon," Haley assured slowly, as though she had to fight being tired.

It was only moments later that they finally came upon a raging river, the river that had once only been a stream. Flooding had naturally picked up as soon as the rain started. And what they saw was quite something.

Laying across the river fifty yards up was a felled tree, and several vehicles were sitting against it as though they had been swept away by the flooding. But it wasn't the vehicles that scared them.

A triangular prism-shaped cage was floating down the river, sinking rapidly into the water. They saw the frantic blue furry arm waving for air as it sank.

"Beast!" Jackie yelled.

Camille immediately felt her brain clicking. "Stone-Heart, get ready to go under. You'll sink faster than we can! Haley, can you put enough roots with my mud to dam the river? Jackie and Kris, get ready to dive in after them. Now!"

Taking action, Haley immediately concentrated on the roots she could feel underneath the ground around them, sending them like whipping tentacles into the water across the surface and connecting with the forest floor below.

Camille gestured towards the mud all around her, created by the rain and the flooding, and sent huge flotillas of mud through the water and packed them into the trees that Pollen was laying across until the water seemed to stop flowing as roughly. The dam looked better than any beaver's dam could ever be.

Masato dove in immediately, sinking underneath the water like a rock. Tigress with Sparkplug on her back followed soon after, swimming into the deep in case the Asian boy couldn't get out.

He landed on the riverbed and half-swam, half-walked to the cage, not daring to take in a breath. He placed his hand on the riverbed and immediately absorbed the flow of the earth beneath him, his whole body becoming like a spiny obsidian rock.

He immediately grabbed at the unconscious Beast's bars, yanking them apart as though nothing had even happened. Giving the energy back to the riverbed, he grabbed the heavy animal-man quickly, and swam as fast to the surface as he could.

Jackie, Kris, and Masato each took part of Hank's unconscious form and pulled him to the bank. Camille waved a hand to solidify the earth underneath them, and they stood atop a stone-like formation made of mud, large enough it wouldn't be affected by the dam when they released their control.

Beast soon was coughing awake, pushing out the water in his lungs.

"Are you okay, Mr. McCoy?" asked Camille.

The man's eyes suddenly opened. "Yes, I think so. Thanks to you." He beamed in pride, before gesturing upstream. "But there's people trapped up there. Let's move!"

They headed upstream as quickly as possible along the embankment, Camille preventing anyone from slipping as best she could. Hank watched her sudden leader-like role and smiled, just as they found the men.

Hiding from them among the trees, Beast walked up to a smaller tree with a thick trunk and heaved. Almost as soon as the tree was lurched from its roots, he stumbled over quickly and laid the trunk across the river, very near the felled log that the other hunters were holding onto.

Kris and Camille rushed across the trunk as carefully as they could, having to adjust when Beast started to struggle against the force of the river flow.

"Here! Grab on!" Kris said, reaching for the black hunter and the blond-haired hunter. The researcher who had communicated with Beast climbed on with the help of Kris, but as the two hunters looked over to see a groaning blue mutant holding the tree in place, they suddenly rushed him.

"Let's get him!"

As he noticed their rush, he let go of the tree and ran away as fast as possible, using his near feline agility as best as he could. But the hunters followed, taking out their tranquilizer rifles.

The scientist tried to call out to them, but the effect was lost on their ears. The only thing they could think of was the cash they could get selling the skeleton to the highest bidder.

"Fast, but not fast enough," the blond hunter said, taking aim with his weapon. He scoped in on Beast and nearly took the shot, but a sudden white flash in the corner of his vision was all the warning he had before a white tiger leapt up, grabbed the gun, and twisted it out of its jaws as it landed. Jackie roared at the man, who was shocked at the sudden appearance of another animal.

Jackie looked over to the black hunter, who was nearly about to shoot what he believed to be just a rare white tiger. But before he could take the shot, something mysteriously shaped like a black claw grabbed his gun and yanked it from the man's hands.

He looked up to see a jet-black-skinned boy with spiny white hair and ridiculously sharp claws.

"Not a good idea, if you want to live," Masato finished, shocking the scared man even more than before. He held the gun with both hands and forced it down, breaking it in half over his knee.

The black hunter freaked out, backing up a few spaces. And right into Haley.

"Leave the animal man alone," she said threateningly. He didn't seem to take her seriously, before vines and branches from bushes suddenly struck out at him without her even having to move. "He has friends."

Meanwhile, the blond hunter scrambled around to find a gun, keeping his eye on the tiger like it was his only worry.

"Looking for this?" asked a sudden voice. He looked up to see Camille holding a ball of mud in mid-air over her palm, with the gun sitting inside of the blobby sphere. His eyes widened and he tried to scramble away, but another boy suddenly appeared behind him, knocking into him.

Orange light was spraying from the boy's fingertips, and as Kris waved them in the man's face, the hunter may as well have bolted from the scene.

The two hunters met in the center, surrounded in a semi-circle of strange people with strange abilities. Their backs were to a tree and when they couldn't get any farther away from the teens, they clung to each other and shook from fear.

"What do you want to do with them?" asked Masato, flexing his rock-like muscles.

Suddenly, a roar from above their heads attracted their attention to the beastly man crawling down to them upside down, clinging using its thick claws. "I'm still thinking about it."

Camille looked up and smirked. "If I were you, I'd run before he makes up his mind."

The two hunters shared a look and half-crawled, half-ran out of the scene faster than they would have thought to be possible for any normal human.

They kids immediately rushed Beast and hugged him, cheering. He smiled and laughed as they surrounded him, celebrating that things turned out all right in the end.

"Fascinating group! I'd love to know more," said an excited voice, the researcher who had attempted to help Beast.

"Someday," started Beast, smiling, "you will."

* * *

><p>With Beast at the controls, the mutants finally took off and headed home.<p>

Kris poked his head up and said, "We're lucky that you were okay, Mr. McCoy. If you hadn't been there, the flooding could have turned into a tragedy."

"Well, as a wise young woman once told me," he began, peeking a look at Camille, "you are who you're meant to be."

The girl beamed.

Kris looked at her and immediately, an idea ran across his head. "Mr. McCoy, Camille did really well, didn't she? I mean, she kept the team together and took charge."

"Yes, she did," Beast agreed.

"So I was wondering if you could recommend to Xavier that she be bumped up to the regular squad."

The surprise was evident on all of their faces, and Camille was open-mouthed at Kris. "Really?"

"An excellent consideration, young Sparkplug," said Beast, smirking. "I will try to ensure that you get the recognition you deserve, young Mudslide."

Camille was astounded, and looked back at the other younger mutants. They had been there longer than her, sure. But she was older and nearly as experienced as they were. Thankfully, not one of them had a sour look on their faces; or at least, in Masato's case, no more than usual.

She laid one eye on Kris and smiled, realizing that she had forgotten why she'd even been angry in the first place.

* * *

><p><strong>How'd you like it? It's probably rough, and this episode doesn't really have much content that I can make original, you know? A lot of it is just scenes of Beast by himself, and I thought I could skip over those but still keep the essential ones so anyone who hasn't seen the episode isn't lost. But the series has been out for so long, it would be really hard to say you haven't seen this one. Or at least, haven't seen it in a while. <strong>

**All right. I also want to sort of apologize if anyone is confused about the episode order. I've decided that to fit my plot, I'm changing the order in the last half of the season. I'm sorry if you were expecting something else, but I'm about to clear that up for you as we speak. **

**Chapter 34: Shadow Dance**

**Chapter 35: Mindbender**

**Chapter 36: HeX Factor**

**Chapter 37: Day of Reckoning (Part One)**

**Chapter 38: Day of Reckoning (Part Two)**

**Hopefully, Season Three will stay in order. lol**


	34. Shadow Dance: Animal House

**Shadow Dance:**  
><strong>Animal House<strong>

Rivera yawned as she walked down the hall, joined by Ava. They were both dressed in their uniforms already, a little too early for comfort. They all had pre-dance jitters anyways.

"So… I saw you and Tristan talking the other day."

Ava nearly stopped in the middle of the hall. "What do you mean?"

Rivera smirked. "Nothing, nothing. Just wondering when you were going to tell us that you were going to the dance with him is all."

Ava frowned, actually stopping this time. She'd been trying to avoid this conversation so far, but it seemed that the day of the dance was the best time to explain.

"Yeah, so? Why not? Especially after the HYDRA incident," said Ava, pointing to the scar on her shoulder, a nasty white line that only recently stopped healing.

Rivera shot her a knowing look. "Hmmm, so you like him because he saved your life? Or at least, your arm?"

"I don't like him, okay! There's more to it than that!"

Rivera set her jaw and raised an eyebrow. "So when are you going to tell him?"

"Tell who?"

As they pushed the elevator button, Rivera sighed. "You know _exactly_ who I'm talking about."

Ava blushed, suddenly finding the curls in her hair very interesting. But then a thought occurred to her. "Don't think you are out of the water, missy."

"Now,_ I'm_ confused," Rivera said honestly.

"When were you planning on asking Grant? I've seen the way you look at him, or at least, I did in the past. Lately, you've seemed a bit distracted."

Rivera frowned. "Yeah, I have been. Chayce and Maya have gotten more active in my head ever since the semester started up; it's becoming challenging to continually argue with them over everyday things."

Ava nodded. "I'll give you that. But you still didn't answer my question."

Rivera blushed this time, but pushed it down as quickly as it appeared. "I don't know if he would-"

"C'mon, no more excuses. I'm going with Tristan, and you should definitely ask him."

The other girl smiled briefly, but Ava could tell that she was more than a little nervous about the prospects.

"So, what's so special about this DR session?" asked Rivera, changing the subject as the door to the elevator opened to the sublevels.

"It's Camille's first session with all of us, as part of the main team," Ava explained. "And it's important to know everyone's strengths and weaknesses."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," she replied. "Do you think Camille is still holding a grudge?"

Ava shook her head. "No, I don't think so. She seems to have forgotten it after the trip to the Redwoods. Or at least, that's what Kris says."

Rivera sighed with relief. "Good. I guess Xavier granting her a spot on the main team was a good idea. She was basically in our age group anyways."

Ava nodded. "I agree. Now, let's see how this is supposed to go."

They entered the hallway next to the Danger Room, where the others and Logan were already assembled. Camille seemed filled with nervous excitement. Rivera looked at Grant, who was tinkering with the room's settings, his rubber fingers moving to rapidly across the screen that it was like they were molding together. Ava noticed the look and smiled with confirmation that she _did _like him after all.

"It's about time," Alex joked, his hand in the middle of a bag of potato chips. Getting some last-minute carbs, before he started firing his energy blasts.

"Yeah, yeah, I had to do my hair," said Ava, shrugging.

"Because _that_ makes sense," Kris said cynically.

"Excuse me, but who jumped up your-"

"All right, settle down you two," Logan said, grumbling. "As you well know, this isn't Camille's first team exercise, but she has moved to the main squad, so she has to get used to working with you. And you have to work with her."

Everyone glanced at Camille and nodded.

"What's the objective, Wolverine?" asked Dynamo.

"Mission number zero-one-six, difficulty level three," explained Aurum, working the settings from the outside of the room. Ever since Monitor made things go haywire, he'd been working to set up a computer panel that could control the Danger Room from the outside. "There are going to be digital projections of guards armed with rubber projectiles. Our objective is to protect the civilians inside the fort."

Wolverine nodded. "Exactly, Aurum. The idea is to keep the civvies safe from harm, while you take out the enemy."

"Makes sense," explained Ava. "I think some of us have run this one before, so let's get to work."

* * *

><p>They were standing outside a rectangular warehouse at night, only lit up by streetlamps. It was the standard warehouse backdrop they were all familiar with, but the situation was different every time.<p>

"Seems quiet so far," Rivera noted.

"Good," explained Ava. "Gives us time to figure out a plan. I assume they will be coming from all four sides, right? There's six of us, and who knows how many of them. And I think it's obvious no one wants to get hit by rubber bullets."

"Right," Grant affirmed.

"So here's what we're going to do. Aurum and Mudslide will cover the north, Echo the west, Sparkplug and Dynamo the south, and I'll cover the east from the sky. It'll give me an advantage, and Echo, you're basically three people. I know you guys can handle it, so let's spread out."

"Are you sure, Tempest?" asked Camille nervously. "I mean, it's a team exercise, right?"

"Yeah, but there's a lot of warehouse to cover," Ava replied. "And we have to keep them from getting inside. Trust us, Camille, we've been doing this longer than you."

Camille drooped, upset for being pushed away like that. But she went with Grant begrudgingly, and they all prepared to fight.

The first projections appeared just outside the south entrance, only yards from the door. They seemed to meld out of nowhere and took aim at them, surprising Alex and Kris almost immediately.

"Where'd they come from?" asked Alex as he fired a low-powered beam at the first projection, knocking the fake-man to the ground. It disappeared, but almost immediately, another one took its place.

"Give me some juice, Dynamo," Kris said as he moved as quickly as he could to avoid projectiles. Alex aimed and fired a wave of energy, some of the green light going straight into Kris's body with no bad effects. "Thank you."

The Japanese mutant's hands began to glow with orange light as he took in Alex's energy and charged it with his own. He rolled out of the way of a shot and then threw out his fist, an orange beam slamming a man into a crate with a satisfying _crunch._

"No problem," Alex said, throwing out another wave of energy at two of the men, knocking out their legs before they could fire properly. One bullet did fire and ricocheted off of the tin roof, hitting the mutant in the shoulder with a knick of pain.

"Dang, that hurts," he said, letting his healing factor work while remaining mobile. "I can't imagine what that would be like if it had been a direct hit."

Meanwhile, at the west side, activity seemed to be picking up very quickly.

Rivera sighed, but kept her two clones at bay. After the HYDRA event, it was harder mentally for Rivera to summon her clones. It wasn't that they were harmed or that she couldn't physically do it, but the energy drain was psychologically hard to handle. It had almost drained Maya and Chayce to nothing, and it had been days before she could risk summoning them again. And even then, it was difficult to get up the nerve to do it.

When the first of them raised her rifle, she immediately started to call on her mimicking power, thinking of acrobatic skills she was certain belonged to top gymnasts. She did a perfect back-handspring out of the way of a bullet, landed on top of a dumpster, and then leapt off of it, spinning through the air at one of the men, all without taking a single breath. She collided with both feet on the man's chest, and then used him like a springboard to land on her feet several yards away.

Amazed at herself, she rolled just as another fired and summoned Maya, who dispatched him with a roundhouse kick to the face. Another man appeared in his place and fired quickly, a rubber bullet hitting Maya in the soft part of her side, shooting pain through both Maya and Rivera through their mental link.

Rubber bullets hurt about as much as a real one. Or at least, it seemed that way.

Maya recovered quickly under Rivera's silent order and grabbed at the man's gun, twisted his arm so he was leaning to one side, and then did a quick sweep of one leg into the back of his knee, throwing him to the ground.

Rivera quickly called Maya back and dodged another bullet, before sighing and preparing her next move.

At the east end of the warehouse, Ava hovered over a group, bombarding them with high winds, nearly enough to force them away from the door. Someone managed to raise the gun and fired, but gravity worked in her favor as she increased the wind currents around herself, knocking the piece of rubber away.

"This is nearly too easy," she thought, an amaranth bolt hitting the ground as two men tried to cross the line she had decided was the main defending zone. "But, all the power is starting to take a toll on me."

She heaved for a few seconds, her random breathing affecting the wind holding her in place. She dropped for several feet before realizing what was happening, but Storm's advice simply would not come to mind.

Ava clattered to the ground roughly, grateful that she had done enough to cushion her fall. She didn't have time enough to recover as enemy's swarmed her.

At the north end of the compound, Camille and Grant waited with abated breath. They had been standing there for quite a while when they heard the sounds of battle all around them, the popping of bullets and the cackle of energy a fusion of science fiction.

"Well, why aren't they coming this way?" asked Camille.

The golden-skinned mutant set his jaw. "They will. I formed the map, remember?"

Camille turned away and looked at the warehouse, before realizing something really dumb.

"Grant, how long have we been waiting here?"

"A few minutes. Why?"

The girl simply pointed at the blank canvas of the wall behind them, just pure tin. "There's no entrance on the north side."

"What? I programmed it in myself," explained Grant, confused. "Did someone change it?"

Camille shrugged, but headed straight for the corner to join one of the other fights.

"Where are you going?"

"C'mon, Aurum, we have to help the others. No one is going to attack the north if there isn't a way inside."

It took Grant a second, and then he sort of blushed with embarrassment. "Oh. Yeah."

They both joined Rivera, who was fighting the enemy in triplicate. She was nearly surrounded by guns when the malleable mutant suddenly whipped in front of them, just like a slinky. He shot Rivera smile as he raised his arms in defense, forming a kind of golden shield.

The digital men took the initiative and started to fire their guns, but the rubber bullets made no impact on Grant's near-rubber skin.

"Now!" he called out to Camille, still behind the corner.

Camille rushed two of the men and clothes-lined them from the back, knocking them off-guard. But it was only an instant of distraction, and the four men turned and fired on her.

She yelped and turned into a muddy substance, collapsing on the ground with a splash. She tried to hold her mind together, but even her brain had trouble communicating when she was similar to slop. The bullets passed harmlessly through her or just hit the liquid, but they never really did anything constructive.

Rivera suddenly tripled again, the two clones appearing next to two of the men. Both Maya and Chayce made the same low-sweeping kick, knocking the men on the ground hard.

Aurum shot out several tentacle-like projections from his arm shield, looking similar to fingers, and whipped at the men that were left, smacking them around as though they were nothing.

Suddenly, it seemed, that there were no more men coming.

"We did it!" Camille yelled as she picked herself up and turned back into a solid. She was so excited that she nearly forgot about her discomfort from changing her state of matter.

"Yep. Let's go help the others!" Rivera suggested, already moving towards the southern end.

Alex and Kris were doing fairly well. The digital projections did not stop coming, however, and Kris just about couldn't take any more pelting. He wished that he could supercharge himself again, since absorbing the energy from the bullets would render them useless; but he wasn't sure how he could do it, and even if he knew, he couldn't risk everyone's life because he didn't think he could handle it.

A bullet whizzed past his ear, and thinking that he may have been in the clear, he didn't expect the second shot until it hit him in the belly, causing him to double-over. The leather-spandex suit only gave so much protection, and he couldn't even begin to imagine what actually being shot was like. He had no clue how Alex didn't just completely freak out.

Alex stepped in front of him and discharged two beams of energy from his hands, but they were getting weaker. He must have been running on low, because his usual fiery green light was a meek lime green, at best. Kris wondered how Alex would handle it if he was supercharged; the energy feedback destroyed the Danger Room last time.

"You're running on empty!" yelled Kris, sending the last of his borrowed power in an orange bolt that collided with a man's shoulder and sent him sky-rocketing away from the warehouse.

Alex shot him a look. "Well, I don't suppose you have a sub sandwich hidden in that jacket of yours, do you?"

Kris grinned. "Nope, sorry. Fresh out. Maybe next time?"

The pseudo-men started gaining, aiming their rubber bullet rifles very finely. Weak blasts were ignored, merely a nuisance now. A semi-circle of men now forced Kris and Alex to the wall.

Suddenly, Echo appeared and knocked three of the men unconscious with her two clones, quick strikes to the back of the neck all that was necessary. Mudslide simply rushed one of them, grabbed his gun, and fired back on them, taking out two more in the process. Aurum wrapped his body around two more enemies, strangling them like an anaconda until they faded away from sight.

Finally, everything was clear. Alex smiled gratefully that they had showed up when they did, but before he could say anything, the sound of cackling electricity and booming thunder seemed to shake them to their cores.

"Ava's in trouble!" Rivera said wisely, and the five of them rounded the corner as quickly as they could.

It was true: Ava was standing in front of the door, looking rather worse for wear. Welts covered her bare arms and legs from where the rubber bullets had connected, and it seemed that she could barely keep focused. Electricity sparked at random, taking some and missing others. She sounded like she was breathing heavily. Thunder cracked with every breath.

Enemies were literally trying to trample her for the door. She kept some at bay with bursts of wind, but it was only a minor deterrence. She was too… surrounded to do anything.

Grant was first to make a move, throwing out his hands and grabbing men from several yards away, gaining enough quick momentum to tear them away from the horde.

"Here!" Camille said to Kris, offering a gun she picked up from the ground. "Use this!"

Kris looked at it in confusion before nodding; both used the guns lying around to fire at the crowd, clearing away some of the men. But it seemed more kept coming by the second.

Alex fired meek blasts of energy, barely more than a distraction. He cursed and rushed them with his tall, muscled body, hoping that would be enough. Rivera sent back up in the form of her two clones, before heading out on her own.

Quick martial arts moves learned from Logan were more than helpful here, since the enemies weren't exactly programmed to be combat-savvy. Both Alex and Rivera were easily able to defeat a few of them.

Suddenly, all of them felt wind blowing across the room, and Camille assumed it was Ava. But when she appeared to be just as confused, they realized it was something else. A whirring sound brought attention to the battle helicopter which suddenly whirred into view.

"Nan da yo?" Kris asked, shocked.

The cannons aimed directly towards them and started firing a direct volley of paintballs, and after several moments, the mutants were battered and defeated, covered with crimson paint. The digital projections entered the building and the simulation faded away.

The mutants watched miserably as Logan stepped into the now metallic space.

"I told you we shouldn't have split up, Ava," Camille started, her expression sour.

Ava grimaced. "Oh, yeah. You did? So?"

"So if you hadn't been so ready to take them all on by yourself, maybe the simulation wouldn't have been a failure!"

Ava was about to retort, but the Canadian mutant showed his true colors. "Hey! Stop the bickering. Right now."

The two girls were silenced almost instantly.

"I'm surprised at you two," Logan started, looking from Camille to Ava. "Not only did you fail dramatically, but the group seriously suffered from poor teamwork and reconnaissance."

"We didn't think we'd have to," Grant started. "I programmed four doors, not three."

Logan looked at him with a smile. "Well, there's a new program, Aurum. It works to adapt to your strategies to ensure everything goes wrong, and everything becomes more of a challenge. Believe it or not, there was only one door on Ava's side, but the men were comin' from three different angles to lead you astray."

They were surprised. "Seriously? How could we not tell?" asked Alex.

"That's the point I'm tryin' to make here," Wolverine began. "Despite the plan to split up unevenly from the start, you didn't bother to scout your location because you _assumed_ everything was the way it was before."

"A red herring," Grant muttered.

"Exactly," Wolverine finished. "Pack up and get ready for school."

* * *

><p>A teenager sat in a bench across the street, watching the students get ready for the night's festivities. A banner for the Sadie Hawkins' Dance was newly draped above the front doors, and decorations were spreading across the gym slowly and surely. They seemed to be bright and cheerful, and he had watched several girls asking guys out for dates, reminding him of those social graces which he sometimes missed.<p>

If any of the teens could unwrap their egos for a moment, they'd notice the brown-haired boy watching them quietly. He knew he probably looked conspicuous, since he wasn't actually enrolled and since he was watching them like a hawk. But nonetheless, he had received no strange looks so far. Which he supposed was a good thing, considering the circumstances of whom he was with.

At that moment, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out, seeing Ashley's number.

Answering it quickly, he said, "Hey, babe. What's up?"

He could almost see the black-haired girl roll her eyes. "Stop calling me that, Zachary. The boss felt I should call you to let you know not to get into too much trouble. Considering what happened back in Manhattan for me, you can't be too careful."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, hush. At least my trip is actually under orders."

"Shut up before you give me a headache," the girl replied. She opened her mouth to continue, but he cut her off.

"I know, I know. Only get the attention of the mutants," said the boy, not caring who heard. "You know what's funny?"

"What?"

"They sent in a shipment of mulch yesterday afternoon," explained the boy excitedly. "They have no idea how easy they've made it for me."

He glanced at the pallets of mulch sitting against a building adjacent to the gym, probably some kind of storage room. Compared to what he was used to seeing, it may as well be enough to fill a whole meadow. It would be more than enough.

"You still want back-up? I could send some creatures your way," the girl suggested.

He shook his head as though she could see him. "No, I've got this. It's too risky for your creations to be that far away from you."

She sighed. "Zachary, I'm not that far away."

"I appreciate the sentiment, but no thanks. I can handle the job myself. Trust me, the mulch will be enough for me." He smiled before hanging up the phone.

Now… to find a date for the dance. He had to look the part, right?

* * *

><p>Grant, Rivera, and Camille were heading towards Chemistry, walking through the busy hallways. It seemed that the Sadie Hawkins dance was getting thrown down their throats, because everywhere they looked, there was something related to it. Camille wondered if it was bigger than prom here.<p>

"I don't think I will ever get the orange tint out of my hair," Rivera exclaimed as she passed a mirror. It wasn't very noticeable, but there really was a faded orange glow.

"Look on the bright side: you'll match Kris," Grant stated, trying not to snicker.

"Oh, hush," Rivera cried, brushing it once again.

"I'm sorry about earlier, you guys," Camille started. "It was my fault."

Rivera shrugged. "Quit blaming yourself. We all make mistakes, and it wasn't like you seriously messed up."

Camille looked down. "Well, that's not what Ava would like me to believe."

Both Grant and Rivera turned to her almost instantly. "There's something you have to learn about our fearless leader: she's always right," explained Rivera.

"Or at least, in her opinion, she's always right," added Grant. "Take a note from the rest of us and just nod your head when she's around."

"Wow," Camille said in wonder. "At least I'm not the only one who thinks so."

The other two laughed. "Honey, we've noticed that since we got here," Rivera said with a giggle. She looked up suddenly as though she remembered something. "Oh, I've got to run back and get my bag." Before she walked off, though, she shot a look at the boy wearing the image inducer. "Um, Grant, will you meet me at lunch today? I need to talk to you about something."

"Yeah, will do."

"Great," she said, waving. "See you then."

When she was out of earshot, Camille grabbed his wrist, nearly shocking him. "Oh, I know what she's talking about!"

"What?"

"She's going to ask you to the dance!"

Grant blushed sheepishly. "Me? Really? I didn't think she'd want to go with a guy like me."

"A guy like you? Grant, you're one of the smartest, sweetest, nicest guys any of us know. Stop doubting yourself, kid, and get out there!"

Grant smiled and thought about the possibilities.

* * *

><p>Tristan was having a great day. The best day he could imagine. He learned that he hadn't failed his English mid-term, and his favorite basketball team won. And on top of all of that, Ava was his date for the dance.<p>

Sure, it was a bit sneaky, and to be honest, a little surprising that she actually went along with it. He'd seen Alex wandering the halls with Taryn all day, and so it seemed that the plan might still work. At least Ava wouldn't back out.

To be honest though: he didn't care if the plan worked for Ava or not. He was getting to take a very attractive girl on a date to the dance, where everyone would see them together. It was like a massive reputation booster!

Speaking of Ava, he looked up to see the amaranth-haired beauty walking down the hall. "Yo, gorgeous! How are you?"

She turned and smirked. "I'm fine."

"So are we still on for tonight?"

As if on cue, Alex and Taryn passed the corner, and she watched him walk past her. She sighed, before tensing up and closing her fist. "Yep. We're still on."

* * *

><p>"You two sure seem quiet," said a voice.<p>

Jade looked up from her book and her eyes nearly bulged out of place. Standing across from her was the most attractive boy at the school, at least for her. He didn't have that all-American look; he was like a combination of punk rocker and emo kid that she couldn't help but like. And yet, he didn't look mopy like she might expect, so that was good.

"Go away, goth boy," Archie said with a grimace. He had been focusing on his iPod and not caring who could see it.

"Goth boy? Really? Is that the best a cutie like you could do?" the newcomer flashed a pretty smile in Archie's direction, and Jade mentally cursed.

_Figures he'd be gay…_

Archie fumed, and she saw the water fountain nearby straining to bulge. "Now, seriously, go away before I pound your face in, fag."

"Hey, hey, watch the language. I'm bisexual, not gay. Which brings me to my next point," he turned to Jade, "I need a date for the dance, and I feel bad for asking since it's the Sadie Hawkins dance, but I'm new here and I need that social edge. I promise that I will show you a good time, and I'll bet that you'd look incredibly beautiful in a yellow dress."

She blushed, but at the same time, she thought about the hidden meaning in his asking. Was he so desperate that he felt the need to ask her? It made Jade wonder how many girls he'd asked before now.

But he was really cute… If Astoria were here, she'd snag him up like no tomorrow. In some ways, she'd be glad to throw it in Astoria's face later that she went out with such a hottie.

"All right, but I kind of need to know your name first," Jade said, smiling.

"Oh, my apologies, I guess," said the newcomer. "It's Zachary. Zachary Malone."

"Jade Rasle."

"All right, I'll meet you here at six thirty?"

She nodded, and he flashed her his mesmerizing smile as he walked away.

"I can't believe that you accepted from that queer," Archie said with a scowl. "He's obviously gay and just using you for his image."

She stood and looked at him with a snide look. "Archie, shut up. He's so pretty, you'd date him if given half the chance. Last time I checked, you aren't exactly busy dating anyone. Wonder why that is?"

"I would not! I'm not a fag!"

"I never said you were," Jade said with a smirk as she headed into her next class and shut the door in his face.

Meanwhile, Zachary stood around the corner, watching the whole argument go down. He smirked at her attitude and realized very quickly that he was going to have a blast tonight.

You know, while he took down the other mutants.

* * *

><p>The outdoor cafeteria was more packed than usual, probably because it was a great day. The custodians took the extra initiative and started planting the school's new flower garden, which was supposed to extend all the way around the buildings. Principal Kelly was aiming for a beautification award, and if the weather kept up, they'd reach their goal in no time.<p>

"Wow, sure is nice outside," Kris said, looking up. "Ava, you got anything to do with it?"

"Nope," she said, a little pre-occupied trying to avoid looking at Camille. If they looked at each other, they'd just glare daggers and start another argument, and that's just no way to have fun on a day like this. "It's all natural."

Grant was sitting over his lunch, totally tense with nervousness. Kris noticed and smacked him on the back. "C'mon, Grant, everything's fine. No need to be nervous."

"What if it's not that?" asked Grant, sounding a little depressed too. "What if I've gotten my hopes up for nothing?"

Camille clapped and smiled. "You _do_ like her! I promise, everything will be okay. I'll help you get dressed to look your best!"

He looked down at his plate and played with his food. "If you say so."

"Oh, look, here she comes!" Camille whispered loudly.

Everyone glanced at Rivera, who walked up confidently. She had the look like she'd been practicing this for a long time, but Grant probably wouldn't even notice anyways. Ava smirked at the sight.

"Hey, Grant," she started, before realizing the others were there too. She sounded nervous. "Oh, and hey to you guys too. Grant, can, I, uh, talk to you for a minute?"

He nervously stood up and followed her away a few yards. Camille shot him a thumbs up, and he blushed.

"I know it may shock you, and you may not even like the idea, but I was wondering if I could ask you something," Rivera began, beating around the bush. She sighed. "Will you… I don't know, go to the dance with me?"

Grant immediately smiled, but found his throat lodged shut from pure nerves. Instead, he nodded his head repeatedly, so much so that he started to stretch his neck uncontrollably, until he nearly looked like a bobble head. Rivera reacted quickly and placed her hands on both sides of his face, eliciting more blushing and a cheer from Camille.

"Watch the powers," she said with a snicker, before lifting her hands. "Let's go finish lunch and we can work out the details."

He nodded with a smile, completely in the palm of her hand at that point.

* * *

><p>The gym was so crowded with gyrating bodies and tangled messes that they all resembled sardines. It seemed everyone was present at the party, everyone including all the Institute and Brotherhood children. Some were coupled, and others were just moving around and having fun.<p>

The DJ was decent, and the punch tasty. Grant had been stalling for the longest time at the punch bowl, but after about thirty minutes, Rivera popped up from a crowd and grabbed his wrist, yanking him along.

"C'mon, Grant, let's go! The dance floor is waiting!" she said with a laugh. "Show me what you got!"

Grant nervously stood there, until she finally said, "Okay, I'll do it first, and you go next."

"No fair; you know you can dance, because of your powers," Grant said with a groan. "I can't."

"The main thing a dancer needs is some fluidity and dexterity, and if there's anything a stretching mutant like you has, it's those two things. Now, repeat after me."

She caught the music's rhythm, inventing her own moves. Without even realizing it, she started channeling things she'd seen on television. She slid to the left, popped her foot, and then swung her hips, all while snapping her fingers. She went through several more motions before stopping and looking at him expectantly.

Grant locked eyes with her for one second, and that was all the encouragement he needed. Immediately, he repeated some of the moves he did, all while putting his own spin on them. It was difficult not to stretch right out of the bounds of his image inducer, since a tiny projection of light was the only thing protecting his credibility at this school.

"Wow, better than I thought! I knew you could do it!"

He beamed proudly, but before he realized it, she had yanked him further into the crowd of people.

Meanwhile, on another part of the dance floor, Taryn was waiting and was rather upset. Alex still hadn't shown up, and she was thoroughly miffed. She didn't think he would stand her up, so maybe he got caught in traffic? For thirty minutes?

Finally, she set off to look for him. When she saw Ava and a tall boy with short black hair dancing together, she walked up to catch her attention.

"Have you seen Alex, Ava? He hasn't shown up yet. You think he's okay?"

Ava glanced at Tristan before shrugging it off. "I'm sure he's fine, just a little late, maybe?"

But before anyone could argue, someone suddenly tapped the microphone, ringing in everyone's ears but getting their attention. "Excuse me, but the DJ has allowed me to do this, and I feel like it's the right time."

"It's Alex!" Taryn yelled, almost squealing. When the blonde boy pulled a guitar out of his bag and set it across his lap, she did squeal. "Oh, he's gonna play me a song! Look, Ava, look!"

"I'm looking," the mutant replied, watching the boy in confusion. "I didn't know he could play the guitar." _When would he have time to learn how, if he did know? _Ava wondered.

"This is a song I wrote for someone special, someone in my life that means the world to me," Alex began, his eyes twinkling in the multi-colored lights. Taryn was so giddy with excitement, thinking of all the possibilities.

He started to play, and it was actually really good. _How had he gotten that good?_ Ava questioned again.

The lyrics were the classic love song lyrics, nothing really special that stood out. But he had a pleasant voice, which surprised Ava even more. It wasn't perfect, but how did she not ever realize he could sing?

The last two lines in particular caught her attention, though, more than any other.

"_You are like the ever-changing wind, shifting, moving, you light up my sunshine."_

Everyone cheered, and Taryn ran up to the stage and he was forced to catch her, spinning her around as she laughed and shouted. Ava couldn't help but notice that he was looking at her.

"Well, that was interesting," Tristan noted. "Did you pick up on some of the lyrics?"

"Yes."

"And did you notic-"

"Yes."

"Why are you cutting me off? I mean, wasn't the plan to go with me all along to make him jealous?"

"Yes, it was. I'm cutting you off because even if that song was written for me, it doesn't matter. He's with Taryn, and I should respect that. Excuse me while I go and get some air."

"You want someone to tag along?"

"No."

Tristan watched her walk away in her shiny silver dress that showed a respectable amount of skin. He frowned, wondering if he should follow her anyway. He glanced over to the DJ station, and Alex was explaining the song to his girlfriend.

He didn't want to say it, but it seemed that he actually felt bad for Ava. He figured it did mean that he had a soul, somewhere in the former assassin's heart. He sighed and waited on her to return.

As the song changed to a slow song after Alex's, Jade wasn't sure how to react when Zachary offered his hand. Nevertheless, he flashed his smile, and Jade knew she was going to go with him regardless.

He held her at a reasonable distance considering they didn't really know each other, while his eyes wandered the room. She didn't know it, but Zachary was keeping tabs on the mutants and their locations.

"I'm glad that you came with me tonight," Zachary said, a half-smiled aimed in her direction.

"Me too," the girl replied, blushing slightly. She may not be afraid to be a little wild and temperamental when she wanted to be, but when it came to boys, she was as nervous as the rest of them could come. "Where'd you move from?"

"West coast," he replied. "Washington."

"Don't tell me you think you're a vampire," she said automatically. He had to fight the urge to laugh uncontrollably.

"No, sadly, I don't sparkle when the light hits me just right. But that would be a cool superpower, you know, if you were scared of the dark. Or if your power went out. Like a walking flashlight."

She giggled while they stepped back in forth to the beat of the music. She was just feeling good and proud of her date when he checked his watch.

"Oh, I think I need to leave. My dad is a strict man. I'm so sorry if this upsets you!"

Jade frowned, trying to fight the anger from boiling up to the surface. "The dance barely started. Can't you wait a few more minutes?"

Zachary shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. I can't. If I don't get home soon, my dad will have a cow."

Her face grew longer. "It's okay; I can understand having a strict parent. Go on home."

He thanked her for a good night and hugged her, before slipping out of the gym. For a brief moment, she watched him leave before fighting the urge to cry.

* * *

><p>Zachary thought he'd never be able to leave, but he couldn't help but feel sorry for Jade. She was a good person, but the mission was more important than this. He took a deep breath and headed out of the front door, basking in the moonlight.<p>

He could feel the material around him. Taking another deep breath and moving to a place where no one would be able to see him, he slowly started to build.

The picture was in his mind, and his eyes began to glow a light brown color. Instantly, the mulch in the flower bed in front of him began to stir. Slowly but surely a velociraptor skeleton began to form from the dead plants, essentially turning one dead form of life into another and reanimating it with his life force. Muscles began to form and soon, thick greenish-brown scaly flesh covered the five-foot-tall immobile dinosaur. Teeth and claws looked sharp enough, sharp enough to cause some trouble.

Zachary suddenly released the breath he had been holding in, and the dinosaur before him suddenly came to life, its eyes glowing the same ruddy brown as his own. The creature made no move towards him, nor would it move at all until he told it to.

He smiled at the amount of mulch left. He'd be able to make plenty more without any trouble.

* * *

><p>Ava paced back and forth in the dark halls, mentally distraught. The song had made her more than a little confused, and the look they shared while he was hugging Taryn was the worst look ever.<p>

Alex was off-limits, as long as Taryn and Alex were dating. She had realized that she liked Alex a long time ago, and for some reason, it seemed like that song showed that Alex liked her too. The entire way he played the music seemed so much like him… It was too scary, too real, for her to even consider.

Taryn wasn't a bad girl. She was just… there first. Ava waited too long for Alex to take notice, and now, it seems, that it's just too late. What was she going to do?

"You okay?" asked a voice.

She looked up to see Tristan walking towards her concernedly. "Yeah, I will be."

"You sure?"

She nodded. "Yeah. For sure. I've just got a thousand things going on in my head right now. Head on back to the dance, I'll be right with you."

He frowned but nodded, walking towards the door. He heard the growl just in time to turn and flick his finger like a gun.

A red bullet of energy collided with what looked to be a dinosaur, some kind of crap they'd see on Jurassic Park. Ava twisted to see it and shrieked.

"What the hell?" Tristan asked, stepping up and in front of Ava. The dinosaur started to rise again, despite the burn mark on its forehead. He raised his hand and was about to fire another shot to put it out of his misery when another growl erupted from behind them.

Three more dinosaurs were heading down the hall, and Ava shrieked again. "All right, we need to get the others and make sure the students don't see any of this." Ava didn't notice the shocking similarities to the danger room exercise.

Tristan nodded. "I'll stay here and guard the door while you run inside. Quickly!"

Ava didn't argue and headed inside. She ran into Kris and Camille first, who were dancing to a fast song just for fun, as friends. "Guys, we have a situation. Block every door to the gym except that one and then hurry to meet us there. Do it now!"

"What are we dealing with here? A mutant?"

She shook her head. "No, dinosaurs."

"What?"

"Just do it! Now! Before the other students see!"

The two set off to block the doors with anything they could get their hands on. Ava moved through the crowds, trying to find any of the others.

When she spotted Astoria and Archie actually communicating, without arguing, she marveled at the prospect before finally snapping to and explaining the situation to them. Both left as quickly as they could to join Tristan to help defend that door.

Soon after, she had collected everyone except Alex. She had seen him from the start, but couldn't bear to communicate with him. She shook it off and headed directly for him, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Hey, Taryn, can I borrow him? Thanks, have a good night!" She yanked him away without warning, leaving too-nice, too-perfect girl behind. "We have a situation. Head to the north door to the gym pronto."

"Why?"

"Raptors. Like the kind from Jurassic Park."

His eyes widened, but he followed her through the room at as fast as pace as he could dare.

* * *

><p>Tristan was glad to have the help. Astoria and Archie went in the opposite direction to help Grant and Camille to block off the other doors, and Jade was nowhere to be found. Lily was acting as a mercenary, rushing through the halls in beast-mode and trying to take any of the dinosaurs out that she could find. Rivera was the scouting system to let them know where these bastards would be while trying to find the source.<p>

It all seemed to be working. Until of course, a group of six dinosaurs suddenly converged on the group.

Their heavy-hitters, Alex, Kris, Tristan, and Ava had been holding the door very well so far. But if any more came, they'd have some trouble.

A raptor growled, and Ava's winds blew the creature into another, but it was just a distraction. Alex blasted two, but it was only a momentary distraction. The dinosaurs seemed to be regenerating. Kris borrowed one of Ava's bolts and fired his own orange ones, but the electricity almost had no effect.

"Does anyone have any idea where these things could have come from?" asked Tristan, pointing with two fingers and firing twin bullets of red energy, knocking beasts into Ava's lightning bolts.

"I don't know," said Kris, absorbing one of Alex's energy blasts and firing the same bulk back. "But I'm sure we'll get a chance to find out."

* * *

><p>Camille and Grant were lifting a desk as best as they could, carrying their geometry teacher's heavy wooden desk to sit right in front of one of the doors. It was a pathetic defense, but it would have to do.<p>

"That's the last one. We should go back!"

Camille nodded at his suggestion and followed him around the corner.

Suddenly, snakes of all shapes and sizes appeared in the ground, all the same greenish-brown color. The girl suddenly screamed as the pack of serpents headed for them, baring fangs and threatening to strike.

"What the heck? Is the entire animal kingdom going to destroy us today?" asked Camille.

Grant made his hand big enough to fit through the entire length of hall and slid it across the floor, pushing some of the serpents back as far as it could. They bit into his flesh, but it didn't seem to have that much affect on him.

"Go find the others. I'll take care of these!"

"You sure? I don't want to leave you alone to fight them by yourself."

He nodded. "I'm fine. I'm positive that they aren't poisonous."

"If you say so." She uneasily left and ran down the hall in the opposite direction, praying she didn't run into any more trouble.

Grant thought carefully and concentrated, suddenly making a net with his golden fingers. He scooped them up left and right, using his malleable fingers to restrain the serpents no matter the size. He held them on the ground, continually stretching and condensing to accommodate the struggling vipers.

* * *

><p>Lily grabbed onto the raptor's neck, using her powerful muscles to rip it apart. Grateful that the dinosaur was finally in two different pieces, she noticed that the blood didn't pour.<p>

When something died under Lily's beast state, she nearly salivated at the smell of her prey's blood. The idea that the velociraptors didn't bleed was more than disconcerting.

"How?"

Almost as soon as she said it, she watched the raptor turn into a pile of flowerbed mulch.

"Huh?"

* * *

><p>"C'mon, this way!" Archie yelled, pushing a heavy bookcase in front of a gym door. He peeked inside and not one of the students seemed to notice anything going wrong. They were oblivious to the dangers presented outside.<p>

Astoria followed him, but suddenly found something blocking her vision. She looked closer and then screeched, her hair nearly catching on fire from fright. Flying towards them was a swarm of bees, all the same nondescript brownish-green color. They buzzed lightly, but not as loud as she would have expected.

"Seriously? Dinosaurs and bees?" Archie asked, running away from them with Astoria.

The pyrokinetic threw out her hands and blasted a light spurt of blue fire, and several of the swarm were taken down immediately. She pressed on to take down two more clouds, but the entire ceiling was covered with them as they flew rapidly for them.

"I'll lead them outside," she said, smiling. "That way I can take them in one fell swoop."

Archie nodded. She split off from him and headed for the door, and he cowered behind a trash can. The swarm either didn't notice or didn't care that he didn't follow. She managed to get outside as the swarm slipped past, and he noticed the brilliant flashes of blue flame throw the window. Hopefully, that meant she was winning.

He heard footsteps beside him, and turned to see Camille running towards him. "Hey, Archie, my friend Grant needs some help! Hurry!"

He wondered if he actually wanted to follow for a moment, perfectly comfortable to stay away from the raptors and the bees. But the look on his sister's face, even if he didn't really know her that well, drew him into going.

"All right, all right."

He followed her down the hall at a full running pace, nearly tripping over one of their fortifications at the door. As he rounded the corner, he saw the problem: Grant was busy trying desperately to hold down a horde of snakes.

Thinking fast, he snapped his fingers and the nozzle on the water fountain a few yards back broke off. Water surged upward and gathered over him, and he started hosing down the snakes, hoping he could drown them. He held the water in a rectangular shape a few feet high, making sure to hold them down as much as possible. He increased the water pressure within that container, holding molecules together as tightly as he could as they continually tried to move. The serpents slowly but surely succumbed to either not being able to breathe or the pressure.

Grant retracted his hands and Archie picked up the water from the floor. Camille opened the window for him, and he tossed it outside.

"Thanks," Grant muttered.

"No problem."

"I'm going to head back for Astor-"

"No, you aren't," said the Gothic girl behind him. "Let's go find the others. That swarm of bees was easy." She smiled as though nothing had bothered her at all, nearly freaking her out.

* * *

><p>"Why do they turn into mulch?" asked Tristan as he blasted another one in the neck, a blast powerful enough to sever its head. It splattered to the ground as what looked like fake wood chips or something.<p>

Lily shrugged as she rushed one and held it down. Kris walked up and blasted its head with an orange Alex-like blast of energy, reducing it to mush. The two high-fived as they finally eliminated the last of them.

"I don't know, but I definitely want to find out," Ava said with a determined look.

* * *

><p>Jade was headed outside just to walk home. The whole dance had been ruined when Zachary left her, and she left the school feeling as though she was defeated.<p>

She got halfway across the grounds when she heard the signs of a struggle. She looked over just in time to see what looked like some kind of lizard-no, dinosaur, fighting Echo and her clones. The three identical girls were trying to yank the beast onto the ground, but it wasn't moving. It wouldn't take the torture.

"What?" she asked aloud. She looked closer to see a familiar boy standing nearby, watching the whole thing go down. No… directing it. "Zachary?"

Rivera whipped around to see her, and immediately, the raptor hurled her to the ground. She did not get up, but she was still breathing, thankfully. Her two clones immediately dropped, not able to move if the original was unconscious.

"Zachary! What's going on?"

The boy walked forward and put up his palm, stopping the dinosaur from moving. "Listen, Jade, I'm sorry. But I had to attack your friends. I was ordered to do it."

"Ordered? By who? And what did you do? Control these dinosaurs?"

He nodded. "I can't go into details. But let's just say that someone has big plans for you here in Bayville. Honestly, I was going to eliminate all of you. But then I grew closer to you, Jade, even if you think I didn't. I can't hurt you like that."

Jade was extremely confused. "You lied to me! I just don't understand."

"You don't have to, babe. Just sleep now."

A voice behind her said, "Sleep."

Jade lost all consciousness instantly.

* * *

><p>When Jade awoke, she was on a comfortable bed that reminded her of home. She looked up to see the Professor and some of the Brotherhood waiting on her. She smiled that they even cared.<p>

"Good morning, Jade," said the professor, striding up. "How do you feel?"

"I'm fine, I think. Where am I?"

"You're in the Institute's medical bay, the morning after the dance. Do you remember what happened?"

She tried to recollect. But nothing came. "No, I'm sorry. What dance was it?"

"You don't remember last night?" asked Astoria. "What do you remember?"

"I remember taking my history test," she said. "I think that's the last solid memory that I have."

The professor nodded. "Yes, that seems to be the case. Even in her brain, it seems that is the earliest memory she has."

"So you don't remember the weird animals the mystery mutant made?" asked Tristan.

"Weird animals?"

"Like dinosaurs and snakes and bees?"

She shook her head. "A mutant _made_ animals?"

The professor nodded. "Yes. Mr. McCoy hypothesized that whoever was behind this seemed to be able to take dead plant matter, like soil, and transform it into animal matter, and then bring those animals to life."

"Wow."

"My thoughts exactly. I'm going to ask again: is there anything else you think you can remember?"

Jade strained her brain to think. "No… wait, no, I think I remember something. Just one word: sleep."

The professor thought about it curiously for a minute, but made no reply.

* * *

><p>"Are the Brotherhood finally gone?" asked Rivera, an icepack still on her head. She was snuggled up to Grant, who looked positively nervous and tense. Kris shot him a look and he tried to relax.<p>

Alex nodded. "Yeah, they left just a couple minutes ago."

"Good," she muttered. "I thought they'd never leave."

"Anyone else notice how similar the Danger Room session was to what happened last night?" asked Camille. "Definitely a weird coincidence."

The others hadn't thought about it very much, but they wouldn't have the chance to reply.

"Hey, Alex, can I talk to you for a minute?" asked Ava, finally coming downstairs. She was dressed in her pajamas, but her hair was fully curled as though she had spent the last few minutes doing her hair.

He looked at her with curiosity. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong," she muttered. He followed her into the next room, and the other mutants were as confused as Alex was.

"You sure? You seem like something's wrong?"

She shook her head. "No. I just wanted to talk to you about that song last night. I…um…"

"Do you think Taryn liked it?"

Ava's heart dropped. "Huh?"

"I mean, do you think she liked the song I wrote for her?"

She swallowed. "Yeah, she really liked it. It was all she could talk about."

"Good, I'm glad you think so," he said with a cheery smile. "You know, I trust your opinion. I mean, I was practically inspired by you in some of the song."

She was so utterly confused. "Inspired by me? What do you mean?"

"The last two lines," he said, smiling. "Your powers made me think of what to put."

Ava gulped. Did she get so wrapped up in her head that she thought Alex liked her? "My powers… Why do guys always go back to the powers?"

She cursed under her breath and waved him off, heading to get breakfast. He tried to follow, to see why she was upset, but a gust of wind slammed the door shut on his face.

He was bewildered. "What's up with her?"

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you liked it! I swore I'd never do another over-stuffed chapter, and yet, here we are! The Brotherhood sort of took the action front, since they were the ones who really solved the whole problem, while the X-Men were more about the drama. <strong>

**Relationship chapters are hard to do for me, so please, let me know if I brought the drama into play well enough. **

**In case you didn't notice the connection, the kid named Zachary (Codenamed: Debris, if anyone wondered) is aligned with Ashley (Codenamed: Creator) from "On Angel's Wings." You'll find out more about their team soon, the same team teased in the Season One Finale, "Cauldron." Let's just say that their identity will finally be resolved. **


	35. Mindbender: Heel Turn Shocker

**Mindbender:  
>Heel-Turn Shocker <strong>

The rain peppered the canvas of the large carnival tent, creating a strange sound that cast an unusual atmosphere for the teens sitting within. But none more so than the dark-haired blind boy sitting within.

Usually, he could see nearly as well as anyone else by sensing and manipulating the natural vibrations of objects around him. The world was a landscape of dull blue that never changed. On rainy days, however, it seemed that his surroundings were completely filled with vibrant bright light, nearly more than he could stand.

He took a deep breath before hearing others approach. Upon every footstep, the vibrations sent him a near-perfect representation of the four people walking into the room: Debris, Creator, Chess, and their fearless leader.

Chess plopped next to him, the fake image of a nine-year-old girl with a cheery smile. He shuddered at the idea of her smile; a devious little girl, that one is.

"Hey, Enzo!" the girl said with a hint of manipulation.

"What do you want, Liliana?"

"Oh, me? Nothing, _I swear_," the little mutant called Chess said very insincerely. Ashley and Zachary stood over him, followed by the boss.

The boss was never without his cloak and walking cane. Or at least, that's what he called that fierce stick. He'd learned first-hand what that walking cane could do, and he nervously moved away from it.

"Well, then why are you all here bothering me?"

The boss clapped his stick on the ground, the golden metal making a loud _clack_ that caused him more than momentary discomfort. "It's because it's time we move."

That caught Enzo's attention. "Move?"

"Exactly," the man continued. "It's time for the first step in our world-changing mission!"

Enzo DeLuca, also known as Cieco, smiled at the idea.

* * *

><p>"Did you have time to study for your Spanish exam?" asked Rivera.<p>

Camille had her nose so far into her book that Rivera was afraid that she would fall into it. "Is it that obvious?" the French girl asked sheepishly.

"I figured it would be _mas facil_ for you, since you've already adapted to other languages before," said Rivera as she bit into her apple. "Do you need a study-buddy?"

Camille nodded extravagantly. "That would be… _muy bueno…_" Or at least, that's what she had meant to say. Instead, it sounded like she said, "Moo-eee bweeno."

Rivera clapped once. "See, you're already learning. Sort of."

As they got deeper into Camille's book, they could hear the New Mutants on one of Wolverine's training exercises outside, Storm was yelling for Kris to take out the trash, and Origami was outside performing some sort of experiment with Grant. Rivera looked up and smiled at his golden face, before Camille snapped her fingers.

"Hellooo…? Echo, 'longing from afar' is not one of your best looks," Camille said with a grin.

"I'm not 'longing from afar.'" She stopped talking and sighed. "Okay, maybe I am. What else is new?"

"Has nothing else happened since the dance? It didn't… make things awkward between you, did it?"

Rivera shook her head. "No. Or at least, I don't think so. Sometimes, Grant has his head stretched so far into the clouds that he misses the rest of us on the ground, if you know what I mean."

The French mutant looked at her in confusion. "No, I don't think I do."

The tripling girl shook her head as though in defiance. "I just mean that he seems to drift more into himself that he doesn't notice everyone outside. He doesn't seem to want to spend time with me."

Camille frowned. "I'm _sure_ that's not true, Rivera. It's only been a couple of weeks, right? Give him some time to make the next move."

Suddenly, a voice from the hall said, "It's the twenty-first century, Echo. You're a strong, independent woman; make the moves if you have to." Ava appeared at the door, holding her cell phone to her ear. She only stayed long enough to see Rivera nod, before heading down the hall.

"Geez, she's been glued to that phone ever since she asked Tristan out on a date last Friday. Apparently, they're clicking," Camille noted. "How long you think that will last?"

Rivera shrugged. "There's no telling."

"So what are you going to do?"

"About what?"

"Grant, silly!"

"Oh," Rivera paused, thinking. She seemed to reach a conclusion only moments later. "Fine. I'll do it. Why can't a woman do the man's job? No… the better question is why it has to be a man's job in the first place!" The girl stood up and was about to run out of the room when Camille groaned. "What's wrong with you?"

Camille blushed, not realizing she had actually groaned. "Can it wait until after you help me study?"

The other girl laughed and sat on the bed, the two trying to enunciate Spanish words and conjugate verbs.

* * *

><p>Beast flipped through the extensive archive of newspapers on the computer, cross-referencing several criteria to help find matches. He was studying a photograph from some guy named Peter Parker when the professor rolled into the room.<p>

"Any leads, Hank?" asked the professor.

"No, sadly," he said, frowning. "I've been looking in practically every newspaper and magazine across the East Coast, but no luck. Did Cerebro find anything?"

The professor shook his head. "No. More interference. I'm starting to wonder if the upgrades were too much for the machine to handle. No matter what, though, we have to find her."

"Maybe she just isn't using her powers?"

The professor nodded. "It's a possibility, but it still seems as though she's been wiped off of the face of the earth."

Beast sighed. "I have another possibility. Could she have di-?"

Xavier shook his head. "No, I don't think so. The death of a level five mutant, no matter the interference, would have sent psychic tremors across the globe. No, she is very much alive."

Beast frowned. "How long has she been missing?"

"Several weeks, if not months."

"Do the kids know?"

"I sense something else in play here, Hank, something else pulling the strings. Something that even the children are not ready for."

Beast frowned. "But don't they deserve to know she's been missing?"

Xavier shook his head, before turning to leave. "They'll know in time. If we find any leads on her whereabouts, they'll be the first to know. At this point, we can't let them worry."

Beast watched the professor roll out of the room, and it left Hank wondering if the professor was doing the right thing.

* * *

><p>Ashley could have handled this mission by herself. It was a simple break-in. Why would it even be necessary for the entire team to go along? She could coordinate an entire team of her creations, given enough time, to get in and retrieve the object faster than the entire group, especially with someone as young and annoying as Chess along for the ride.<p>

"Is this it?" the little blonde girl asked, a surprisingly innocent look on her face.

She was nowhere near innocent.

"No, it isn't," Enzo said. "That's why the car stopped."

She scowled. "Oh, shut up, Cieco."

"Hey, I have to ask you guys this. Where's the other girl?" Zachary asked from the driver seat as he pulled the keys from the ignition. "I figured she'd join us, like she did with me a couple weeks ago in Bayville."

Ashley groaned. "So one more person can join us on this overly simple mission? Yeah, right."

None of them had a solid answer. "In fact, I haven't seen her in the last couple days. Where's she been?" asked Enzo.

"Cieco, you haven't _seen _anyone...," answered Chess with a cheerful smile. "You know, denial about your blindness is really quite sad."

He grimaced and raised a finger to blast her with enough pure sonic force to throw her out of the car, but she countered before he could generate any vibrations with her own finger, which he was forced to mimic. They were tethered together by invisible strings of influence from the mind of the nine-year-old like a puppeteer would control his puppet.

"No sir, we won't have any of that today," muttered Chess with a sly grin. "Promis-"

"Knock it off, both of you," Ashley said in disagreement, and Chess released her strings, giving Enzo back his freedom to move as he pleased. "Let's just make this as simple as a drive-thru, shall we?"

The four teens moved as one cohesive unit, as they had been molded to do. Prodded. Controlled. It was easier for the boss to make them do as he pleased, if their minds were open and transfixed on the goal.

The mansion before them was quite something. Whoever owned it was a seriously rich collector of sorts. Which made perfect sense, given the circumstances of what they were trying to get.

"Cieco, you're up," Zachary said as they all stepped up to the gate.

The blind boy nodded. He raised his hand decidedly, closed his eyes, and snapped his fingers. He immediately bent the sound vibrations to travel through the air straight towards the house. They easily passed through the thin walls, giving him a full "view" of the mansion's interior. Furniture, hallways, pottery; everything that the sound bounced off of he could sense. Within moments, he had a full picture of where the object was located.

"East side, top floor," Cieco said as he opened his eyes. He put on his sunglasses and followed the group, keeping his ears open for any trouble.

They entered through the front door as easily as anything else, not even needing to break in. Were the owners home? Ashley supposed that it didn't matter if they were or not.

"No one's home," Cieco affirmed. "But there's an alarm going off, one that none of you would be able to hear."

Chess smiled. "Well then, this could get interesting."

Ashley nodded, but not because she liked the idea of police appearing if they did. "Come on, let's get up there."

They followed the stairs and Enzo's instructions. Within moments, the target was in sight: a ruby-encrusted ring, banded with gold.

"There's the first one," Zachary said. "Cieco, you got another one in you?"

He nodded, before clapping his hands together in front of his body. The sound waves were visible as blue light for a split second before the glass in the collector's case burst in one clean motion. He fizzled out the sound before it could break anything else.

Zachary reached in and took the ring, just as Cieco suddenly turned his head towards the window.

"Police."

The four mutants headed outside, the ring carefully placed in Zachary's coat pocket. Two police cars careened into the mansion's grounds, their sirens blazing.

"Stop and put your hands up!"

They didn't stop, to the policemen's surprise. They got out of the car and aimed their guns towards the four of them. There were four uniformed cops, two of them female.

When the guns were trained on them, the mutants stopped. Chess carefully activated her powers and rose her hands, and the police were forced to follow her movements.

"If I have to put my hands up, so do you," she explained. "Guys, you want to take care of them from here?"

Zachary felt the mulch and soil behind him, and immediately felt his powers drain him. The mulch gathered before the struggling policemen, whose faces were priceless; they were powerlessly forced to hold their hands up.

Soon enough, a huge green and brown bear had formed from the mulch. Zachary smiled at his creation as it stood on both legs and growled at the men, who were so shocked they probably crapped their pants.

Cieco knew it was his turn. He rubbed his hands together roughly, feeling the sound waves all around him. He guided them with his movements, aiming at their cars. After a few moments, the sounds got louder and louder until the cars were somehow severed in half by visible blue vibrations. The two halves landed on the ground useless.

One of the quivering policemen actually did pee himself, a large stain gathering on the front of his pants.

Ashley was satisfied. The policemen were in terrified awe at the idea of kids who could do unspeakable things. Kids who were somehow able to create huge snarling beasts. Kids who could manipulate them to mimic their movements, and they had no say in the matter. Kids who could sever entire cars with just sound and a glowing blue light.

"All right, let's get out of here," she said, walking toward the front gate. "Cieco, knock em out."

Enzo nodded and made a simple flicking gesture with his hands, generating enough vibrations in a focused point that the four police officers were forced to hit their cars hard.

Chess released her control and happily followed Ashley. Zachary's bear turned into a pile of mush before he joined her. And Enzo made one last waving motion and shattered all of the windows of the mansion, just for good measure.

* * *

><p>Rivera finally took a deep breath and headed over to Grant, who was busily working on something for Keiko. "Hey, Grant."<p>

"Oh, hey, Rivera," the boy said with a smile. "You want to know what I'm working on?" He was typing something on his laptop, looking at files with their names on them.

"Um, yeah, why not?" she said nervously, not sure why there were files of all their friends.

"Origami is a geneticist, right? She's been studying genetic mutation on mutants, and sometimes, it seems like our powers defy the laws of physics, right?"

"Right," she said, not knowing where he was going with it.

"Well, she was hoping that my brain could look over these test results and figure out a complete analysis of how our powers do not violate those laws," he explained, pointing to his computer. The first one was a profile on Ava, and she read a brief part of it. "Most of it is guess work on how things are connected, but it really doesn't seem that implausible, does it? I'm hoping I can work out the kinks and show everyone soon."

Rivera smiled at his enthusiasm, but she had not a single clue what he was talking about. "No, I guess it doesn't. That sounds like a great idea. But you know what else sounds like a great idea?"

"What?" he asked curiously.

"Going with me in a couple days for coffee," she said with a smile. "You'll do it, right? Great! I'll see you then!"

She walked away rather abruptly, leaving him just a bit confused. It took him a few moments to realize that he had a date.

* * *

><p>Xavier was searching for more leads on Cerebro when he felt a large spike just outside of Boston. But just as before, psychic interference seemed to push against his probing mind, unable to get a lock on their exact position or their identities. All he knew was that one of the signatures was familiar, but not the one he was looking for.<p>

He hit a button on the console, bringing up the intercom. "Hank, there was activity outside of Boston for a few precious moments. It seems to be gone now, but Cerebro is trying to triangulate their route."

"Is it related to her?"

"No. Or at least, I don't think so," explained Xavier. "I can't exactly tell, but it seems that they are headed to New York City."

"I'll have the databases check and do a match. Maybe there's a link."

"All right."

Xavier probed upward and connected with both Alex and Logan. "You two, I need you to prep the jet and fly to New York City at once."

He could sense their confusion, but an order was an order.

* * *

><p>"A bank, huh?" asked Zachary as he exited the taxi, alongside his fellow teammates. The large Township Bank was their next destination. "Any ideas where the ring is, Cieco?"<p>

He shook his head as he snapped his fingers. "Nope, there's too much noise in this city. All I know is that it's in a safety deposit box, but there's no telling where."

"All right then, I guess we need to find it," said Ashley. She knew this was risky, but a bank like this one was bound to have cameras everywhere. She felt deep within the cacophony of voices inside her head until she found the voice she was looking for.

_Finally decided to dust me off, huh?_

She ignored his comment and summoned him to her side. He was a tall teenage boy with long jet black hair and what looked like purple cat eyes. The boy smiled so bright that she grimaced at the sight of him.

"All right, Cheshire, no funny business. Just sneak inside and take out the cameras. We'll handle the rest," she said aloud. "And if you try anything, I'll seal you so far back inside my head that you won't want to escape. Got it?"

The smiling boy stretched before suddenly sinking into his own shadow. The shadow streaked across the ground and into the building.

"Is that safe, Ashley?" asked Enzo. "I know you haven't had the best luck with him. I could probably take out the cameras from here, if I focused hard enough."

She shook her head, trying to concentrate. "Yes, it's safe. I can't pretend like he doesn't exist, deep in my head. He's the only creation of mine that has ever even tried to cause trouble, and I need to keep him sated."

"You make it sound like he has feelings," Zachary sneered.

"He does," she said. "They all do. They are as real as you and me."

"That's what makes them so scary," Chess said, genuinely creeped out.

Ashley nodded in agreement. "I can create anything I want, give them certain abilities to do whatever I want. Sadly though, their greatest flaw is that deep down, they_ are_ real. And eventually, they'll get tired of being imprisoned in my mind."

"What about that wolf guy?" asked Enzo. "Hasn't he been there longest? Has he ever tried to do anything like Cheshire?"

Ashley shook her head. "No. Wolfie may have been my first creation, but Cheshire was my second. When I accidently created Wolfie, I realized that if I made creations more thorough, I could really create something." She shuddered at the thought. "Cheshire was one of many well-described creations, the first page in one of my journals. He's got… a special place deep in my mind, reserved just for him. But he was the first to realize that he didn't have to belong to me, the first to become self-aware.

"He grew more and more insane the longer he stayed in the back of my mind. I spent time with him, sure, but it wasn't the same. He grew tired of it and finally lashed out while I had him summoned, killing one of the neighbors. That was when he really went crazy, and for a time, he had escaped from my control.

"But eventually, I found him and bound him within the deepest reaches of my psyche, thanks to Wolfie's help. Wolfie battled Cheshire while I worked on a way to bind him. Finally, I succeeded."

Chess looked up. "But can't you just destroy him?"

"And destroy me too? No thanks. We're linked."

Zachary frowned. "What if you were to let him go?"

"Then he would surely be an insane monster in a world that doesn't understand him," explained Creator. "I refuse to let that happen. He'd kill anyone who crossed him."

"Wouldn't that be easier for you?" Liliana asked, her little girl eyes confused.

Ashley looked up, just as she felt Cheshire expend his powers over shadows and darkness. "Yes, that would be easier on me. But I'll never subject anyone else to his sick, twisted mind."

"So you use him just to make sure he stays… satisfied?" asked Enzo.

"Yes. It's the only way I can stand him being stuck in my head. You people have no idea what it's like to have people in your head, people who scream to be let go, people who want to be free." She looked down. "I just don't want to end up like them."

A shadow suddenly appeared before rising up and taking on the form of Cheshire, still smiling brightly like the cat from _Alice in Wonderland. _He nodded as though his job was complete, and Ashley yanked him back inside her mind.

"Let's go. He's knocked out any kind of security systems."

The four teens headed inside the building, and sure enough, the cameras were deactivated. Cieco, as soon as the doors were closed, snapped his fingers again in hopes that he could find the ring.

"The vault is on the north side of the building, I think on the second floor," explained Enzo. "But I can't tell if the ring will be there or not."

They headed as quickly up the stairs as they could, and as soon as they reached the hallway, the vault doors appeared.

"Cieco, can you blast it open?" asked Zachary.

He shook his head. "Not unless you want the steel to reverberate and bring the building down on us."

"Okay then," he said, pulling out a small bag of mulch from his coat. "Maybe I can-"

"No," Ashley said, immediately summoning Wolfie to her side. "He can handle it easily."

They watched as Ashley's first creation held out both palms and fired jets of flame at the vault door, the flames turning the metal white hot. It took several moments before anything happened, until finally, the door began to melt away in a molten heap.

Quickly, Wolfie disappeared and Ashley dug within her mind, pulling out one of her simpler creations. This one didn't even have a name, but when she summoned her, she made sure the creation knew what to do.

It was a girl, probably around Chess's age in appearance, with bright red hair. She was covered in what looked like beautiful scales, and had a fin on the center of spine. She was wearing a very pretty white dress that glowed blue.

The creation raised her hands and suddenly, water poured from out of nowhere, cooling the hot metal until it became solid again, vapor filling the hallway.

Ashley gave the creation a smile before pulling it back into her mind. She took a deep calming breath, hoping that she wouldn't have to bring any more creations out for a while. It was very taxing on her own energy.

"Amazing," Zachary said. "How many more of those things do you have in you?"

"Way too many," she said with a frown.

Cieco snapped his fingers again as they stepped into the ruined vault, looking for the right one. When he was sure he had it, he slapped the door and pushed as much pure sound into it, the vibrations making a ringing in eveyrone's ears. The door to the box popped off, and he pulled it out.

"This it?" Zachary asked. Cieco opened the box and revealed the second ring, this one an emerald jewel.

"Awesome!" Liliana said with a cheer.

Suddenly, Enzo cursed under his breath. "Someone's coming."

* * *

><p>Alex headed right into the bank, looking for any signs of the break-in. Logan took a sniff and growled. "Upstairs, in the vault!"<p>

Dynamo followed the Canadian mutant until they found the source, four people holding some kind of ring. Alex was surprised to see the door to the vault in a melted heap underneath their feet.

The tallest of them looked to be a dark-haired Gothic kid wearing some kind of overcoat. He held the ring within his right hand, and was giving Alex the strangest look, as though he was salivating over a package of meat.

Next to him was a tattooed brunette boy wearing sunglasses over his eyes and dog tags around his neck. He was in a white tank top and dark jeans, and the way he wasn't really looking at the two X-Men made Alex wonder if he was blind.

On the blind boy's left was a much shorter girl who looked to be maybe nine, and the serious expression on her face made Alex shiver. A pretty blond girl shouldn't look that serious, ever.

And the last one there was someone that seemed familiar to Alex, but not because he'd ever seen her before. She just seemed familiar to him somehow.

"Hey! What are you doing?" he yelled.

"Put the ring down before we're forced to hurt you," warned Wolverine, summoning his claws. Not one of them flinched at the claws. "Just walk away."

"You're right," said Enzo. "We probably will just walk away." He clapped his hands together, and immediately, the sound rushed into their ears as the loudest thing that they had ever heard in their life. Both X-Men felt their ear-drums burst and bleed, and it was nearly too much to concentrate.

Logan tried to rush them, fought through the feeling with his superior healing factor. He aimed his claws at the blind boy's form, but the blond little girl stepped in front.

Immediately, he stopped and felt himself rooted in place. He was no longer able to move of his own accord, only his facial muscles free. The little girl smirked as she raised her arms and dangled them in front of her. To Logan's shock, his arms made the exact same movements.

Wolverine watched helpless as the girl jabbed herself hard in the chest with both fists. An instant later, and Wolverine was lying on the ground, his claws stabbed deeply into his chest cavity.

"Wolverine!" Alex yelled over the impossibly loud din. He flicked his hands and shot a bolt of energy at the group of teens.

But before the bolt could hit, he watched the tallest of them throw a bag of mulch into the air before it generated into a tortoise, absorbing the blast of energy.

Alex didn't immediately make the connection, but after a few seconds, he realized that the tallest boy had been behind the attacks at the Sadie Hawkins' Dance.

"You're not going to get away!" he yelled, making to fire another one. But suddenly, he felt his arm diverted as the little girl made a gesture, and his energy bolt released directly into the already hurting Wolverine.

The blind boy suddenly made a movement, and it seemed that the force of a sonic boom blasted the two X-Men out of a window, bursting their healing ear-drums once more.

Alex landed wrong, and Wolverine was struggling to even move next to him. The boy probably had a broken arm, possibly a leg. And Wolverine was now bleeding profusely from his chest, since the pure force liberated his claws.

They laid there for a few moments, trying to even gain the ability to stand again, when they both looked up to see the X-Jet taking off. It flew off into the night sky, leaving the two mutants struggling to heal on the ground.

"Damn it!" Wolverine cursed, taking in large breaths as his lungs stitched themselves closed. He finally retracted his bloody claws. "They break into a vault, steal only a ring, and then take the Blackbird! Those kids are dead next time I see them."

Alex was in considerable worse pain than he was, his healing factor not working as quickly. His wounds were all glowing with green energy, but he remembered how long it had taken his powers to heal a bone the last time he broke one.

"I'll call the others," Wolverine said in between breaths. "Get you into the medical bay."

Alex could only moan in agreement.

* * *

><p>"Oh my god! We seriously just stole a jet!" Chess said excitedly.<p>

"Yeah, yeah," said Zachary from the cockpit. "If the boss hadn't linked with us to explain how to fly one, we'd be screwed."

"Good thing then," Enzo said, thinking about what just happened. "They'll figure out where the last ring is, won't they?"

Ashley shrugged, trying to rest up in case her powers were needed again; they always took a lot from her. "Anything is possible, but I doubt it."

* * *

><p>The news that this mysterious group of teens blasted the hell out of both Dynamo and Wolverine completely shocked the rest of the students and faculty at the Institute. Beast used the information in the computers and finally deciphered the newest lead.<p>

"There are three of them. Tibetan artifacts," explained Beast. "Early Hun dynasty if I'm not mistaken. The second ring has been kept in a safety deposit box."

"Let me guess: in the Township Bank?"

Beast nodded in affirmation. "Until now."

"Where's the third?" asked Xavier.

"Still looking," Beast explained. "Got any ideas on her yet?"

Xavier shook his head. "None yet. I thought perhaps this might be related, due to the same type of interference, but it seems that isn't the case."

"What about Logan and Alex? Are they back yet?"

Xavier shook his head. "Someone's headed in Velocity to pick them up, and they should be back soon. The students are getting restless with worry." He turned to leave. "Hurry and find any other clues you can, Hank."

The blue furry man nodded. As the professor turned to leave, he felt something in the corner of his mind. Something he didn't expect to feel. He grunted with the sheer force of it, and tried to battle against the feeling. But it was nearly too much. He felt himself go slack against the feeling, only deciphering one single face as he blacked out.

"Professor!" Beast yelled. Immediately, he turned away from the computer to check on the telepath. Hank was halfway to the medical bay with the professor when the man stirred.

"Hank, get me…to Cerebro," Xavier groaned out.

The furry mutant nodded and turned around, towards the large spherical room down the hall. He placed the headset on the Professor's head, and Xavier started to manipulate the machine.

"I saw… a face… I should be able to… locate him with Cerebro," explained Xavier weakly.

Through his memories, he created a replica of the face for Beast to see. Soon enough, the telepath who had attacked Xavier's mind and nearly left him broken was suddenly revealed.

The man had pale skin, no hair, and was covered with intricate green tattoos.

"Wow. Was he the one who attacked you?"

The professor nodded. "Yes. The troubling thing is how he did it from a distance. I've never been able to telepathically attack anyone from afar, without the help of Cerebro." Xavier shivered. "I think it's him who has given Cerebro so much interference lately. Beast, I think that he's the one who has her."

"He's gathering those artifacts too, isn't he?"

The professor nodded. "I'll use Cerebro to try and find him. Do what you can, Beast."

"You won't have to," said a voice. They turned to see Kris walking up behind him. "I've seen him, Professor. The Mindbending Mesmero. He was in Bayville last week in some kind of carnival."

"Then we need to attend his next engagement," said Xavier, thinking deeply.

Beast's watch suddenly went off. "Oh, the scanner's done. He pressed a button on Cerebro's panel, bringing up the network. "It looks like the last ring is in Washington D.C., at the Museum of Eastern Antiquities!"

"How are we going to get there?" asked Kris. "They have the jet, and Keiko left to get Logan and Wolverine!"

The professor cursed. "Contact them and make sure they hurry. We have somewhere else we have to be."

* * *

><p>The jet finally landed atop the roof of the building. Zachary was just glad that Mesmero had taught his brain how to fly, because otherwise, they'd have crashed and burned.<p>

"Let's get in and out of there," explained Chess.

They all nodded. "You got a location?" asked Zachary to Enzo.

The blind boy nodded. "West wing, level eight."

"Well, then let's do it," said Ashley.

The four of them left the jet, and as soon as they touched the rooftop, security officers rushed out of the stairwell leading into the building, aiming their weapons at them.

"Hey! You can't land that here!"

"Does it look like we care?" asked Cieco. The mutant stomped his foot, sending vibrations through the rooftop that cracked the ground underneath their feet. He clapped then, and the ground opened up as they screamed for the painful noise to stop.

They entered the building with little trouble. Security was already aware of their presence, so they didn't bother to avoid cameras. May as well make themselves infamous, as long as they didn't reveal their powers to anyone. Besides, Mesmero could take care of that anyway, if it became a problem.

The guards still swarmed them, and a quick rattlesnake made of mulch made them forget they were ever there. Enzo located the glass, Ashley broke it with a quick elbow, and Chess grabbed the ring and placed it in the beaded pouch the others were in.

As soon as they had the ring in place, Cieco screamed. Screamed so loud that the officers may never get up again.

* * *

><p>Wolverine was still in pain, but nowhere near the level that Dynamo was feeling. The young mutant couldn't move his left arm, and his right wrist seemed to be fractured. In just a few hours, his healing factor had helped tremendously from what Logan assumed was like his left elbow had been ground into sawdust from the impact after the sonic boom.<p>

It probably hadn't been a real sonic boom. If it had, the damage would have been worse. But that kid could bend sound and vibrations, enough to the point where he could fire pure force at them. That in itself was remarkably annoying.

"You need something to eat, kid," said Logan, thankful that his healing factor didn't work like Alex's.

The boy nodded. "I know. Maybe the others will be here soon."

"Yeah, I hope so, but Keiko called and said it would be a bit longer. They had to turn around and pick up the others."

"Why?" asked Alex.

"They think they've found the guy behind all of this," explained Logan. "I'm sure it will be here soon." When Logan heard the whirring of a helicopter, he smiled. "Speak of the devil."

* * *

><p>The jet finally touched down in front of the tent. Chess stretched her legs as soon as she touched ground, ignoring the storms brewing above and the mud beneath her feet.<p>

"Hmmm. It feels good to be back," she said with a smile.

"Especially since it's a job well done," Zachary said with a smile. They headed towards the boss's tent to reveal the good news when Cieco cursed under his breath. He put out his cigarette and pointed upward.

"Here comes the cavalry."

* * *

><p>The heli-jet finally circled the location that they managed to track down, the group very ready to take down this guy. Xavier was a bit apprehensive, considering how this Mesmero had been powerful enough to block Cerebro and render him unconscious, even if for only a moment.<p>

"Try to keep them occupied; I've got an appointment with a mutant named Mesmero. Alex, you stay inside and keep eating those chips. Kris, I want you to guard him." The two boys nodded.

The four mutants on the ground were visible in the window of Velocity.

"They're just kids, like us," said Kris. "And yet, they knocked around Wolverine?"

"And one of them looks like that girl from New York, the one who could create stuff," explained Rivera. "No, it _is_ that girl."

"And the tall one is the one who attacked our school during the dance," explained Alex. "He made a tortoise with his powers and absorbed one of my blasts."

"Either way, we have to be careful," said Ava as Velocity landed. "Let's go!"

They rushed out of the heli-jet, just as it started to rain. Ava wished she could say that she had planned it, but she hadn't. She took to the skies as best she could, hoping to take them out from the sky. She focused on the storm above, using it to channel her own power, and then fired a bolt of amaranth-colored lightning, bigger than most of her attacks.

Instantaneously, a two-foot tall golden glowing angel appeared above the group, completely blocking the attack with its gold aura of protection. Ava cursed that she hadn't done it within one move and tried to fire another one, but the angel sped forward and tried to grapple with her in the air.

Meanwhile, Camille was using the muddy ground to her advantage. She waved her hands, and an entire wave of mud shot right for the group of teens. The blind one, however, clapped his hands and then flicked his wrist upward, immediately sending enough sonic disturbance through the mud that it fell to the ground, powerless.

"Crap," she said, trying to send shoot several projectiles of mud, but the sound manipulator just continued to send vibrations through the air with every audible move of his body, making them lose form and fall to the ground.

Rivera and Grant rushed the tall Gothic one together, and tackled him to the ground. "Not so tough without your freaky animals, huh?" taunted Rivera.

Aurum was about to stretch over him when he suddenly felt his body lock in place. He was no longer able to control his body, his limbs moving on their own; he was forced to stand up. He locked eyes with the little girl, who was forcing all three versions of Echo and Aurum to mimic her movements.

"Sorry, but the two of you will have to deal with me," said the girl. "And I'm not so fun to deal with. What shall I do first?"

Grant, however, was thinking very carefully through her powers. He reached a conclusion and suddenly made his whole body as malleable as rubber, and it was like his body turned into a molten puddle of gold.

"Oh, look, he melted!" the girl said, laughing.

However, the puddle suddenly gained many tendrils and shot towards the girl, who was completely unable to block any of them. He finally wrapped his whole body around her, pinning her arms together.

"Sorry," he said, holding her in place. Rivera was set free from her control, and immediately turned to take down the taller one.

But the taller one wasn't there. He was running towards his tent, and when he finally arrived, he smiled. Wolverine and Beast were running right for him, but when they got to his tent, two shapes suddenly burst from his tent.

One was in the shape of a huge green and brown gorilla. The creature roared and charged at Beast, throwing the animal-like mutant around like child's play.

And the other was a large feline-like creature, and when Wolverine realized what it was, he growled. "A wolverine? Seriously?" The creature blasted towards the Canadian and lashed out with its claws, throwing the mutant several yards away.

The tall Goth looked so pleased with himself that he'd managed to create them so fast from his practice mulch, that he'd never realized he'd forgotten one.

Rivera tapped him on the shoulder. "You know, you shouldn't turn your back on an opponent."

She kicked him as hard as she could in his spine, and the boy went down, unconscious. She looked to see if the mulch-beasts stopped moving, but they didn't. They continued to fight with Beast and Wolverine, and no matter how many times Wolverine chopped his opponent in half, it kept reforming from the soil it was composed of.

Ashley watched her creation duel with the weather manipulator and pleasantly realized that she had the bag of rings in her hand. She ran towards the tent, getting almost there when a blast of orange light exploded the ground beneath her feet. She was thrown through the air, the bag leaving her hands and landing in the mud several yards away, only feet in front of Xavier. He looked to see Kris, giving him a thumbs up from the heli-jet door.

The telepath saw the chance to grab it and rolled forward faster than he ever had before. But right before he got there, a figure suddenly appeared to grab it. She reached down, her auburn hair wet from the rain.

His eyes widened. "Dean." He had suspected it, but had no real confirmation before just now. "Adeana! What are you doing? You don't have to do this!"

The vocal manipulator was stoic, unnaturally so. Xavier recognized immediately what had happened to her, what was keeping her in control.

"Fight his power, Adeana! Fight it!"

The girl said nothing as a robed man stepped forth and took the bag from her hands. He placed his hand on her shoulder and shot a strange look in Xavier's eyes. "I'll bet it comes as a shock to you that I have her, doesn't it? Your precious Winter Rose is mine!"

The girl's blue eyes were vacant of any emotion.

"You may be able to control her mind, Mesmero. But you cannot handle mine!" Xavier immediately focused on the man's mind, sending blast after blast at the weaker telepath.

Mesmero laughed. Actually laughed, before gesturing to the Inuit girl who used to be at the mansion. "You can blame my Winter Rose for you failed efforts. She has made me immune to your telepathy with her powerful voice! You cannot hope to defeat the likes of me, I who have been chosen by a god!" Mesmero looked to the blind boy and said, "Cieco, stop toying with her and come here!"

The blind boy, who was still allowing Camille to have all the offense, suddenly made a clapping gesture and sent the manipulated sound directly to her ears. She screamed and fell to the ground, unconscious.

The boy walked to Mesmero's side, and through a quick telepathic order, understood what he needed to do. Winter Rose, for the first time, opened her mouth.

"Sleep."

Cieco manipulated that simple command and pushed it to all of the combatants. With quick movements, he was able to ensure that the only people who heard the command were the X-Men.

Ava fell to the ground, unable to stay aloft. Grant slacked around the little girl's body, leaving her able to move. Wolverine and Beast fell to the feet of their unusual beast combatants. Camille landed in the mud, rain falling on her face. Rivera's two clones returned to her mind as she landed against a tent. Both Kris and Alex hit the heli-jet's floor. And Xavier, the last one to hear the command, slacked in his chair.

* * *

><p>They all awoke later, startled. The X-Men slowly but surely tried to understand what had happened, how Mesmero and his lackeys disappeared. When they realized who had been behind the end of the battle, all eyes were on Xavier.<p>

"Did you know about her?" asked Rivera loudly. "Did you know about Dean?"

Camille was the only one confused. "You mean that red head was Dean? The girl who left the mansion before I got there?"

Ava nodded. "Yeah. That was her." She stood in front of Xavier and frowned. "Answer this: how long have you known that she was missing? We communicated with her for weeks after she left, and things seemed to be going great for her! We eventually stopped talking as often, and lately, we assumed she was doing just fine! How long did you know?"

Wolverine stepped forward and made Ava back off just a bit with a look. They were all angry, especially Ava and Rivera.

Xavier slowly looked down and closed his eyes. "Her village contacted me a month ago."

"A month!" exclaimed Rivera. "You've known she was gone for a whole month?"

"I did," Xavier affirmed. "I have been anxiously searching for her for the last few weeks, but there were no traces of her departure. Now I know why."

The others tried to calm down, but the idea that their friend had been missing and they hadn't been told was more infuriating than the actual situation.

"You can reach her, can't you?" asked Camille.

"Check it out, guys," said Alex, pointing to his arm. It was completely healed, able to move exactly as he wanted. "If this isn't a sign that we can reach her, I don't know what is."

"Perhaps," said Xavier. "Given enough time. But it seems as of now, that she has made herself immune to my powers."

"How'd she do that?" asked Kris.

"Telepathy works with our brain-waves, doesn't it, Xavier?" asked Grant. The professor nodded. "She must have eliminated a receptor in her brain, as well as Mesmero's." Rivera wondered if Grant had already written a profile on Xavier.

"It's entirely possible," explained Beast.

"Just who does this guy thinks he is? And why would he want those rings?" asked Camille.

"He claimed to have been chosen by a god," the professor answered.

"Okay, so he's as crazy as the pope," said Kris.

"That may be, but whatever he needed those rings for, I'm certain it can't be for good."

* * *

><p>Mesmero lead the others into the cavern. The five mutants behind them did the same, wondering why they were in the Himalayas. But as soon as they were assembled in front of an Egyptian-looking door, he silenced them completely.<p>

Taking a deep breath, Mesmero dropped his hood and reached into a pedestal, pulling out part of the key. He then placed the three rings upon the end, in order from ruby, to emerald, to sapphire.

The five mutant children watched as he assembled the key and placed it in the slot. There was what seemed to be a dramatic pause before he turned the key.

It began to glow until white light began to pulsate from the shining door, as though something ominous was happening. Mesmero and his minions were forced to shield their eyes from the light, their expressions in awe.

When it subsided, there was another door with a design that seemed to be shaped like a scarab beetle, with brilliant red stones all along the beetle's back.

"I have done as commanded. The first door has been opened. I await your instruction on the location of the other two keys." He paused, not looking up as though he were kneeling with only his head. He grunted as the mind connected with his own. "Understood. I will find them. And the world will once again tremble at the presence of…."

The five teenagers suddenly felt connected to the entity behind the door. All six of the mutants felt their minds work in unison, as their mouths opened to finish Mesmero's sentence.

"…**Apocalypse." **

* * *

><p><strong>OH YES! :D <strong>

**Been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. Awesome. I can't wait to continue the Apocalypse story later down the line. **

**A Shout-Out to those who have created Mesmero's "Ring-Masters" (as I have named them): to San child of the wolves for Ashley (Creator), to xBlue-Rosex for Enzo (Cieco, which means "blind" in Italian), to XxxCloudyxxX for Liliana (Chess), and to Rook2Pwn for Zachary (Debris). **

**As I'm sure you're aware, the next chapter will be HeX Factor. Followed by Day of Reckoning, parts one and two. **


	36. The HeX Factor: Spellbound

_**The HeX Factor:  
>Spellbound<strong>_

If anyone saw the wheel-chaired man standing outside of the dark mental hospital, he or she might think he was a patient due to the confused expression on his face. But to those who knew the man personally, they would know that he was in deep thought and flustered due to recent events.

The man lifted his cell phone as he surveyed the tall, church-like building before him. Very quickly, someone picked up on the other line.

"Charles, did you arrive as expected?" asked the voice of Ororo Munroe, his first student. He revered the powerful woman so much; a perfect example of the vision that he wanted to share with the world.

"Yes I did," Xavier answered. He thought back to last week. "Are the students recovering?"

"I believe so. They seem to be doing better. There's a lot less anger directed to Dean and Mesmero now." The African goddess sighed. "I think everyone here will be fine. But more importantly, how are you? Your visit to the hospital can't be a coincidence. Do you feel guilty?"

He thought it through, studying his reflection in a first-floor window. Xavier was surprised at how gaunt he looked, worry lines seemingly scrawled across his face.

"The events with Dean have made me look back on past mistakes, Ororo. I'm hoping that I can correct some of them while I'm here," Xavier said solemnly. "I_ do_ feel guilty, but there's nothing that I can do for Dean right now."

"You know that you don't have to prove anything to anyone, Charles," assured the weather witch. "I promise that what happened was not your fault."

"A telepath has taken the mind of one of my former students, using her for some unknown plans," countered Charles, "a student who has almost limitless potential and could kill any of us with a word, at the previously-mentioned telepath's request. If this could be blamed on anyone, it's on me."

The woman huffed. "Charles, this will get you nowhere. We'll reach her, in time. I promise."

Xavier took a deep breath before saying goodbye and ending the call. He rolled up the wheelchair ramp and into the mental hospital.

* * *

><p>There were three things that the girl knew: darkness, hunger and pain. Those were the only real things she knew about her world: everything else was simply her imagination.<p>

She'd lost track of time. If this hospital were on a boat or a plane, she'd lose track of space too. The girl had no clue what day it was, but she could decipher that it was between breakfast and lunch.

Day in and day out, the guards brought her food at the same time, time which she could barely recognize anymore. That was the only marker for time.

She'd spent years in this hospital. Years of the same routine, every day. At the beginning, they'd tried to make her sit through therapy. But when that backfired and nearly burned the building down, they'd given up on that.

So, after that fiery display of the power that made her psychotic, the power that drove her insane, she was locked in a cramped box nearly devoid of light. She wore a neck brace that essentially clamped her mouth shut, making her unable to speak.

One day, they unlocked the brace just to let her eat. That proved to be a mistake when she almost flooded the entire hospital and everyone in it.

So now, she had to settle for a straight jacket, a jaw brace, and an IV running through her arm, feeding her nutrients.

Her stomach never felt full. It was constantly dark. Her mouth brace_ always _hurt.

Hunger.

Darkness.

Pain.

Light…?

"Restrain her! Don't let her speak!" said a voice as the "box" she'd been restrained in suddenly opened. The light from the room outside stung her eyes, blinding her for one long moment.

She struggled, but the straight jacket was too much. She screamed, but her mouth wouldn't open. She thought of the words that she could "spell" in Hebrew, but not one of them could be said without her mouth being open.

She pushed against her bindings, still unable to see. She didn't even know what was going on, but whatever it was, she still felt like she should fight. The girl was completely tired of this place.

The guards grabbed her carefully, touching her like some kind of diseased animal, afraid to get burned.

They had no idea what would happen to them if she could only speak.

She screamed again, but to no avail.

Her vision returned just as they were carrying her through a hallway. She looked at the hard, rough walls and thought of the possibilities.

Suddenly, she turned and slammed the side of her head against the brick, angling her head so that the clamp of the mouthpiece would hit first. She was dizzily yanked away from the walls as the guards commented on how crazy the girl really was.

She moved her mouth, opening it ever so slightly. She smiled instantly and thought of a good spell. She was halfway to her destination when she said, **"Parar." **_Break._

Instantly, she felt the pain run through her intricate tattoos, glowing slightly with a lilac color. The next moment, the jaw clamp snapped open and she was free to speak.

She spoke swiftly, a series of words that were almost unintelligible, except to the most fluent Hebrew speakers. One guard was thrown several feet, and another was hanging upside down, his arm twisted in a strange position. The last guard pointed a gun at her. **"Masas."** _Melt._ The gun melted in his hand as though it had never even been solid.

She turned quickly and started running, the guards trying to catch up to her. Ignoring her burning tattoos, she invoked, **"Bedek." **_Crack. _The pain ran down her body once more as the floor behind her seemed to open up with a loud ripping sound. One pursuing guard fell right into it, and they tried to pull him out; she continued around a corner, unpursued.

Another pack of guards appeared and aimed tazers at her. They fired before she could turn around.

"**Tah'ana."** _Stop._ The projectiles stopped in mid-air, enveloped in lilac-colored light. **"Gav, a'hora."** _Back. _The electrified rounds immediately reversed, hitting the officers who had fired them. They were sent into rough spasms on the ground, crying out as they flinched with every pulsation.

She ran past them harmlessly. The girl wasn't sure where she was going.

_Down the hall to your right. Last door. _

Her brain didn't recognize the ethereal voice, but she didn't question it. Maybe she was getting some heavenly aid?

She came upon a tan-colored steel door, having followed the instructions to a tee. **"Patah." **_Open._ The door opened soundlessly as another twinge of pain rushed through her body; if she didn't stop using her powers so frequently, she'd pass out.

She rushed inside and immediately felt her rage bubble up to the surface. The voice did not belong to heaven, but to a man that she thought had forgotten about her.

* * *

><p>Xavier watched the nearly-grown girl step into the room, saw her face grow with anger. She looked like a starved animal, her musculature very thin. Her tattoos were glowing with a purple light after overuse of her powers, contrasting with the unkempt curly brown hair wildly covering her face.<p>

"Naomi!" he exclaimed, pushing an impulse into the girl's head.

Immediately, a pang of guilt rushed through him. How was he any different from Mesmero in this very moment, manipulating a girl with similar circumstances?

The girl visibly groaned and clutched at her head, obviously not liking the painful intrusion. She grabbed at the wall behind her, turning away from him until eventually, she dropped to the ground in the corner, hands wrapped around her knees for protection.

Two guards rushed into the room. "Professor, are you-" one of them asked, armed with a nightstick.

"It's all right. Everything's under control here," he said calmingly. The guards were a little surprised at the notion that the paraplegic could keep her under control, but they knew better than to question it if she seemed to be calm. "I'll be fine."

They looked at each other before leaving the room, leaving the door open behind them.

"You seem very angry today. I was…hoping that we'd made more progress in teaching you to control that anger," the professor tried. "Aren't they treating you well here?"

"Progress?" she asked angrily, tongue-tied. "What progress? It's hard to have progress when you are trapped in a box."

The professor looked at her with a solemn expression. "I could speak with the management. I'm sure that I could lessen your strict conditions, if you'd simply stop resisting."

"Get me out instead," she suggested angrily. "Why not? I'm certain that you could keep me better. Maybe you wouldn't ignore me for months."

Xavier frowned. "That's the point of my visit today, Naomi. Recent events have made me question leaving you here alone. I feel terrible for-"

"I don't need your pity," she said. "You come here, expecting to treat me right for once, in order to make yourself feel better. Well, I won't have it."

He stopped to think for a long moment. But before he could reply, another doctor entered the room.

"Excuse me for interrupting, Professor. I'm afraid we're going to have to cut Naomi's session short today," the doctor explained. "Radiology is waiting to do some additional MRIs."

"Yes, of course," he said with a frown. The mutant watched the Level Four mutant being guided by the doctor with no resistance. "Now, Naomi, I expect you to go quietly. No more outbursts, understood?"

The girl turned to look at him.

_Who are you to tell me what to do, Charles? _

* * *

><p>Naomi was guided by the radiology doctor through the halls, passing into the security checkpoint. Bars blocked their way, and she thought about how many ways she could destroy them and run free; for some reason, it calmed her to think of destruction.<p>

"Got a few X-rays to take," the doctor explained to the two guards. They nodded and opened the gate, allowing them to pass through.

Naomi was beckoned through the halls, fully expecting to stop at the Radiology section of the hospital. She realized something must be wrong as soon as they passed the door that led to it.

"Just keep moving, Naomi," the doctor assured her.

When they passed into the staircase, she really started to want to know what was going on. The doctor pressed his grip firmly into her shoulder, giving her a simple squeeze every now and then to know that everything was all right.

After a few flights of stairs, the door suddenly opened to reveal something she'd never thought she would see again.

"**Savta?" **_Grandmother?_

She wanted to rush into the blue-garbed woman's arms. Naomi wanted to feel her grandmother's wrinkled skin, see her speckled eyes, and confide in her like she did when her parents were off to war.

"Yes, child," the woman said. The familiar voice was unmistakable; the woman truly was her grandmother Agatha.

The doctor gestured to Naomi, sharing a glance with the old woman. Immediately, Agatha Harkness began to chant in a voice barely above a whisper.

Her mind was instantly at ease, more so than any telepathic intervention from Xavier. Some small part of her wondered why her grandmother would feel the need to come to her now, after so many years of never even bothering. They were the same worries she had with Xavier showing up out of the blue uninvited, visits few and far between.

"Keep her sedated," the doctor said. But something was off about the voice. It sounded… feminine? "I have some unfinished business to attend to."

She looked back to see the doctor slowly transforming into a blue-skinned woman with long red hair and stark yellow eyes. She only stayed in that form for an instant before transforming once more, becoming a guard that Naomi remembered from inside.

Agatha looked at her solemnly as she finished her incantation. She beckoned Naomi into the car. It drove away from the hospital.

And she never looked back.

* * *

><p>Grant was having a wonderfully nervous last few weeks. Every time he and Rivera were together, she had to coax the nerves out of him. But when he broke out of his shell, he had the time of his life. It made him smile for hours afterward, which was rather distracting from cataloging for Keiko.<p>

He gazed down the hall and saw the dark-haired girl trying to force her locker open. He watched her frustration and smiled.

She turned and saw him, and almost immediately, Grant felt his stomach lurch with nervous energy.

"C'mon, Grant, you can solve differential equations like a boss. You can talk to a girl. A very pretty girl who is obviously interested in you," he said to himself under his breath.

He walked up to her and gently grinned. "Hey, Rivera."

"Hey, Grant," she said with a blushing smile, still trying to force the lock. "I can't get my books out, and I'm going to be late for class!"

He smiled and pressed his palm against the lock. "It's all right. I can do it."

He manipulated his disguised golden skin to stretch through the metallic lock, easily finding the folds and opening it. And all without revealing anything suspicious. "See?" he said, pulling the locker open with his other hand. "It's as simple as that."

She blushed. "Thanks, Grant, you're a life-saver. See you after class?"

Grant nodded. "You're welcome! See you then!"

And with that, the X-Woman walked off, leaving the other mutant with a sensation akin to bliss.

* * *

><p>Ava headed outside as soon as the bell rang, preparing to leave. But when she passed through the door, she cursed as she saw Alex waiting for her in the usual spot. He smiled as he noticed her, his long blond hair and light eyes glinting in the sunlight.<p>

She wondered if she could turn and walk away from him. Things were still awkward between them, especially since Alex didn't seem to notice. Ava noticed everything that he said or did around her as more than it actually was, something close to desperate hope.

She grinned, put on a good show, and headed over to him. They greeted each other warmly, but there was a hint of awkwardness still floating around every syllable. The events the morning after the dance, even if it had been more than a couple weeks since, were fresh in Ava's mind.

"So… how's Tristan these days?"

Ava considered it for a moment. "Well, I suppose. We're going out this Friday night, said he had an early birthday surprise for me."

"Your birthday's in July!"

"So? I think it's sweet."

He frowned. "Well, of course you do. All girls think it's thoughtful when they get presents."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ava questioned angrily. He looked at her in supreme confusion and opened his mouth to comment, but she shook her head. "Don't bother. I've gotta go meet Tristan."

And with that, she turned to go and meet him, leaving Alex in total disbelief.

* * *

><p>The Brotherhood had been enjoying a peaceful afternoon with no Tristan to jump down their throats, Archie was in a relatively good mood, and Lily wasn't on a rampage destroying the house. It seemed things were going well so far, but if Astoria continued trying to "cheer" people up by reading Edgar Allen Poe, Jade would probably shoot the pyrokinetic in the head.<p>

Astoria was just about to finish the last stanza of "The Raven" when the door suddenly slammed open, revealing someone that no one expected to see ever again.

"Guess who's back?" the blue-skinned woman with bright yellow eyes said, putting a hand on her hip.

The shock on everyone's face was priceless. Astoria dropped the book to the ground in surprise, and Jade's eyes widened more than ever before.

Lily stomped into the room. "Is that really you?"

Mystique looked at the daughter of Sabretooth. "Yes, it's me, you dolt." She surveyed the room. "You pathetic lazy clods have destroyed my house!"

Archie looked up. "Well, we've been working on it."

"Have you? You do know the point of cleaning a place up is to_ improve_ it, right?" She ignored their attempts to defend it. "Where's Arsenal?"

"Probably out with Ava," Jade suggested.

"Ava? You mean Tempest?" Upon their confirmation, she nearly growled a furious growl worse than Lily ever thought about sounding. "Why do you people not grab a backbone? She's the enemy! And one of you is dating her? What happened to the top-knotch team of mutants that I gathered?"

"We're still here," Astoria defended.

"Yeah, right," Mystique said sarcastically. "When was the last time you beat the X-Men? Oh, that's right; you haven't!"

"But lately, we've been working with them," Jade said aloud. "They're actually not that bad."

She truly growled this time. "Of course some of you thought that was okay. But it isn't; you will remain enemies to that bastard Xavier! Do you understand?"

"But, when we do fight them, they always win," Jade said with a sigh.

Mystique eyed her curiously. "Not any more. Meet your newest teammate: Sorceress."

A girl with tanned skin dotted in lilac-colored tattoos stepped into the house. She had dark brown hair that was still messy and more than a little unclean. She was dressed in hospital attire.

"Why don't you give them a demonstration of what you can do?"

Naomi nodded and opened her mouth, speaking a brief Hebrew word as her tattoos and eyes glowed with lilac color. She winced lightly as they did, before the curtains suddenly burst into red-colored flames.

Archie gasped as he doused it with water from the sink, but it was obvious that some of them were unimpressed.

"I can do that," the cheery Goth girl said, opening her palm. Blue sparks ignited across her skin, before creating a perfectly hot blue-colored flame.

Mystique looked at Naomi with a sly look on her face. "She can do much more than that."

"Yes, I can," the girl said, before speaking yet another phrase in Hebrew. The table in the living room suddenly snapped in half. She spoke again, and the closet door opened and then melted into a puddle on the ground. One more phrase and the couch suddenly morphed into a large boulder, before reverting to the same couch again.

Mystique noticed the girl's distress rising as she continued to change things in the room, to make things happen that weren't supposed to. They took a toll on her, creating pain that danced down the strange tattoos that seemed to be connected to her powers.

"All right, that's enough."

But the girl didn't stop. Couldn't. The curtains suddenly animated and began walking around on their own. The television began to float as though there were no gravity. Shadows extended throughout the room, some lapping at the feet of the surprised mutants.

"Okay, we get it already! Stop her!" Jade exclaimed, aiming one of her speed bolts in an attempt to stop the girl from speaking so fast.

The yellow energy shot from her hand collided against an invisible shield around the girl, dissipating on contact. The fact that Jade tried to attack only made Naomi angry.

"Seriously, make her quit!" Astoria exclaimed, shooting flames at the curtains that had suddenly targeted her, moving around in a similar manner as the flying carpet on Aladdin.

"Naomi, stop it! They've had enough!" the shape-shifter tried, but the Jewish girl was in one her "fits."

Suddenly, the door slammed open. An old lady wearing a blue cloak walked into the room, removing her hood. In her distress, the girl put up an invisible force-field against the newcomer. But more chanting came from the woman, and the shield shattered like glass. She placed her hand on the girl's shoulder and began to invoke her powers to calm the girl down.

"Be at rest, child."

Within moments, the girl seemed to calm. But the room didn't. The old lady turned and spoke a single word, before waving her hand.

The room calmed almost immediately and reverted to its original state. Everyone stared at both the woman and her granddaughter in amazement, just as Tristan walked into the room.

"What's going on? Did I miss something?" The old woman walked the nearly sedated girl out of the room, despite his confusion. "Who was that?"

"That," said Mystique, "is our secret weapon."

Lily stared at the shape-shifter. "Ya sure that's a good idea?"

"She's like a witch with those powers!" exclaimed Archie.

Mystique looked at him slyly. "And that is precisely what makes her so valuable to our little cause!" The older woman walked into the room. "Anyway, you needn't worry. As you see, I've brought an old friend of mine, Agatha Harkness, to teach her granddaughter to better focus her emotions into unbeatable power."

At that moment, the older woman spoke up. "She has Tourettes' syndrome, in case you were wondering why she lost herself. That coupled with her powers are a dangerous combination."

"Tourettes'? That does not make any of us feel better!" Astoria exclaimed, speaking for everyone. For once, she didn't have her creepy smile.

"You shouldn't worry, children," the woman said. "Naomi will be fine under my tutelage."

"What exactly are her powers?" asked Jade. "She's crazy powerful."

"Her mutant gene makes her a conduit for chaos energy," explained Agatha. "She has to invoke her powers by speaking in her native tongue, Hebrew."

Tristan groaned. "That does not sound good. What exactly did she do?"

Agatha waved her hands and spoke a word. The entire room reverted to what it looked like before she dispelled Naomi's rage, but after a brief moment, she returned it.

"Wow," the boy said. "How do you do that? Are you a mutant?"

Harkness merely laughed. "Magic, my dear young one."

"Magic's for fairy tales and orphans with stupid scars," Lily grunted. "It isn't real."

Agatha smiled, but didn't comment further.

Jade tapped her foot loudly. "She won't help us. She's too volatile."

"Oh, she will," reassured Mystique. "When I downloaded Xavier's files from Cerebro, I found a complete psychological profile from his sessions with Naomi. She'll do what's needed because I can give her the one thing she wants most: revenge."

* * *

><p>Camille sat at the table, doing homework. Some of the younger students were doing God-only-knows-what, and it was very distracting.<p>

"Reese, can you calm it down out there? Seriously!" she yelled, but they only laughed harder.

Reese, Augustus and Haley suddenly walked into the room, carrying bundles of something that looked like fruit. "Sorry," he laughed loudly, almost uncontrollably. "But you have to try this! It's the best food you'll ever put in your mouth!"

In fact, all of them were laughing uncontrollably. Augustus was having trouble not falling down and bruising the orange and green fruit. It struck Camille as odd that they would all be laughing so hard.

Nevertheless, she took a fruit from him. "Where'd these come from?"

Haley raised her hand proudly, giggling uncontrollably. "From my garden!"

The way she mentioned garden definitely struck her as odd. The French girl took one sniff of the fruit and suddenly felt giddy. It was such a great feeling, but it only lasted a second.

"Haley, how did you grow these?"

"With my powers," the girl said automatically, laughing a little too much.

Camille took another sniff but didn't bite, another high running through her system. "All right, put them down. Did you add marijuana to these?"

The three younger kids burst into laughter. "I'm calling them juananas!" Augustus yelled.

"No, seriously, throw them out, Haley. This is not cool," Camille said. "I won't tell the professor, but get rid of them!"

"Won't tell me what?" asked the man as he rolled into the room. "What's going on?"

"They're juananas!" Augustus yelled, laughing harder as he did. "Haley grew them with some _special_ ingredients."

Xavier shot them a look. "I expect you to get rid of them. Right now. And don't ever do it again."

The three kids were still laughing at everything that he was saying, but they walked out of the room relatively sullen.

"Camille, gather everyone together and meet me in the library. Tell them that it is top priority," Xavier said before turning off.

"Yes, sir."

* * *

><p>"And so, I've had numerous sessions with her at the hospital, but the poor child has a tortured mind," explained Xavier. "And when you add that to the power of her mutant abilities, she becomes very dangerous."<p>

"Why is she so upset?" asked Ava, shifting in her seat on the couch next to Alex.

Xavier frowned. "She does not exactly believe in herself. She believes that she's a worthless person who has no control over her own actions, due to her Tourettes' syndrome. She's angry and vengeful for being placed in the mental institution, but I fear that she turns more of it inward than to others."

"Maybe she just ran away from the hospital?" suggested Kris. "I mean, you never know?"

The professor shook his head. "No, I sensed the hand of someone else in this, someone who may be planning to use those dangerous powers of hers against us."

* * *

><p>Naomi stood in the middle of a circle, trying to tap into her powers through her words. She feared losing control, but she feared being locked up more; that was the only reason she was cooperating with Mystique.<p>

Well, that and the fact that her grandmother, who she hadn't seen in months, finally showed up again. If Mystique was good enough for Grandma Agatha, she was good enough for Naomi.

Flames danced around the circle as she spoke several incantations, maintaining her control while her tattoos burned against her skin. The flames suddenly flashed as she felt her mind slipping away from her, but Agatha noticed it immediately and pulled her back to herself.

"Naomi, focus only on your breathing-"

"I can't!"

"Let it be the focus of your whole being," the old woman said. "The flame is your emotions, your anger; it will extinguish with serenity! Don't let it overtake you! The rage is strong, but you are stronger!"

She cried out as memories flashed across her mind, memories of her father and mother casting her into that wretched prison as soon as the outbursts began so many years ago. She would have ended up in that mental prison even without powers, but they certainly didn't help.

The fires danced in her eyes, reminding her of the hate and the shame she could feel her parents emanate the day she was dropped off. She knew it was all her fault, and there was nothing she could do but get worse. Draw even more into herself.

She screamed out unintelligible words as her skin itched with the almost burning pain, and the flames burned hotter and brighter for a moment before dissipating on their own.

She landed on the ground and breathed deeply in and out, trying to calm her mind. She felt another episode coming, and she wondered if they came more often because of her stress. She remembered having them while locked up, not able to make any words but surely able to scream into her metal mouth cage.

Later, after another brief rest, she was called upon again by her grandmother to practice her powers. With a string of words, a tiny piece of dust expanded and transformed into a diamond-shaped jewel that absorbed all light around it and produced a rainbow-like display above. She pushed things to a harder level, and the jewel begin to spin like a disco ball, floating above the table about a foot.

"Control the dark impulses, Naomi. See only the beauty!"

She remembered crying out for her mother, who merely held onto her father's waist as she was carried by guards into the hospital. She screeched louder than ever before, screaming several curse words in Hebrew. Trees burst into flame and the earth beneath them shook, nearly taking down the entire hospital, before her father told them to hold her jaws closed.

She screamed out for them, but her jaws were tightly clamped shut. The desperation in that moment was too much for her to bear, and as she remembered, Naomi's crystal fell apart.

Agatha only looked at her, remaining distant. As distant as possible. Naomi knew that if she got some real attention from her grandmother, she wouldn't be as bad. But the woman merely stood pristine as she was forced to admit that she couldn't handle it.

She went into the bathroom, automatically feeling it necessary for a change. She reached for the shears, but almost immediately, Astoria slapped her hand away.

"You have such gorgeous hair," the girl said with a smile. "Let me take care of it for you."

Naomi smiled at the act of kindness, before allowing the Gothic girl to experiment with her hair. They struck up a conversation, slowly but surely getting to know each other while Astoria went to work.

After about fifteen minutes, Naomi looked up to see her hair so much better than before. She had a pixie cut that ended at her jaw-line, wrapping around her head and coming up at the base of her neck.

"I think it really shows off the tattoos on your shoulders," the Gothic girl said, pointing to them. "Better than hanging around all unkempt and ruining your image."

"If you say so," the girl said. "Thanks for doing this."

"You're welcome, of course. Now, why don't we go and get something to eat?"

"Nope," Mystique said, walking up to her. "We're going to be too busy with the next phase of our plan to worry about eating. Come on, I'll explain on the way."

* * *

><p>The professor gathered everyone again, this time in the kitchen. "Everyone, I need your attention."<p>

"What's up, professor?" asked Alex.

"Cerebro has discovered Naomi's location," explained Xavier. "She's joined the Brotherhood, and I have also been able to track their movements. Right now, they're in the Bayville mall."

"Maybe they needed some fashion advice from the mannequins?" asked Kris, sparking a laughter with everyone at the table.

"The mall's been closed for hours. I'd like you all to suit up and find out what they are doing," explained Xavier.

"We've got it, Professor," explained Ava as they got up to seize the opportunity. "I'm sure we'll handle it and be back here in one piece, with a trophy for our accomplishment."

"Maybe we can talk them out of being so stupid?" asked Rivera. "I mean, they've been teaming up with us lately."

"It's true," Alex agreed. "Makes me wonder about the sudden change of heart."

"I don't about that, but I'm sure we're about to find out why," Ava explained, determined.

* * *

><p>Grant knew it was his turn, just like with the locker earlier. He walked up to the door and pressed his whole body against it, but didn't stop walking. Eventually, his golden body slipped through the cracks like some kind of play-dough, before he solidified on the other side.<p>

Aurum turned around and opened the door quietly, hoping to avoid alerting the Brotherhood if they were watching the door.

Everyone slowly walked in. "Good work, Aurum," Ava said, looking around. "Now, if only I could find some shoes while I'm here."

"A little off-topic, don't you think?" suggested Kris with a smirk. "What is it with girls and shoes?"

"All right, all right," she said. "Let's split up. Ava, Kris, and I will take the first floor. The rest of you go up to the balconies."

With that order in mind, everyone split up their own ways, searching the stores for any possible strangeness. No one seemed to find anything, until Ava spotted a mysterious shadow that looked like someone standing before a light.

Taking initiative since no one else was around, she channeled her powers and directed a small current of electricity, enough that she could manipulate it in mid-air. It angled like an L and there was a satisfying sound as it arced through whatever it was that it hit.

But as she looked, it wasn't a person. Just a mannequin, that was now charred and in pieces on the ground.

She frowned. "Oh, well, I always hated mannequins anyways."

"Well that makes two of us," said a voice behind her. She turned to see a certain dark-haired boy walking up to her, dressed in his combat uniform made mainly of leather. "We do have a lot in common."

"What's going on, Tristan? Why are you here?"

He walked up to her. "I would tell you to get out of here, but you can probably handle yourself. Some major things are about to go down, and I wanted to warn you."

"Oh, yeah? Like what? You're gonna fight us? I thought we were sort of on the same page recently?"

"Things change," the boy said, looking around as they walked out of the store. "Seriously, you should stay out of this though. I trust you, but this is a whole new situation you're about to deal with. You have no idea."

At that moment, she heard voices yelling upstairs. "That's Rivera! Gotta go!"

She concentrated and pulled wind currents around her body, slowly floating higher and higher until she landed on the balcony above her. He called out for her to stop, but she didn't listen.

Meanwhile, inside the electronics store, Rivera found herself standing before Lily, already in full beast mode.

"Stop fighting us, Belle! There's no reason to do it!" Rivera tried, but Lily wasn't there to listen. She rushed the X-Woman with as much speed as she could, and Rivera took the attack head on. She hit the wall behind her with nearly as much force, making both her back and her front hurt.

She took the initiative to summon her two clones, both standing to defend her as she stood up from the first assault. Maya spun and did a flying sidekick to the monster's belly, but Lily grabbed her ankle just before she did and used her powerful strength to fling the clone away. Chayce jumped up and tried to give the mutant girl a hammerfist to the head, but Lily caught it on her hand and threw it away, the momentum bringing Chayce to knock a television into the next aisle.

"It's going to take more than those ants to take me down!" Lily said with an almost fake roar.

"Well, I guess I need to surrender then. I mean, I have no chance against you in beast mode. But if you were to change forms, I'd probably be able to fight you on equal ground," Rivera said. "But you wouldn't go for that."

"And why not?" Lily said as she transformed back into a human. "I could still take you down!"

"Then try me. I won't use my clones, you don't transform."

"Fine," the girl said before swinging at the supposedly defenseless girl with a fist.

Rivera, in a move she wasn't even sure she could mimic, kicked off of the wall into a backflip, jutting her other leg out. It slammed into Lily's chin, and her whole head whipped back too fast to feel good.

The beastly mutant crumpled to the ground, moaning about the pain in her chin.

In another section of the mall, Kris and Alex were searching. Soon enough, Astoria came into view with a flash of blue light.

"You don't have my permission to hurt her, so I'll take you down right now!" Blue fire flowed from her fingertips, and both X-Men jumped away from it.

"Who's her?" asked Alex, a keen suspicion that she was referring to Naomi.

"None of your business!" Spice yelled, blasting another jet of fire.

Kris stuck his hand back into the blaze, slowly absorbing the blue flame's heat energy into his own body. He took a deep breath and held his palms together, generating his own orange flame. He blasted Astoria with almost double the firepower, and the girl had to duck behind a pillar to dodge the brunt of it.

She gestured to the flames that were spiraling outward and brought them in together. Soon enough, she had gathered all of Kris' stolen energy into one great ball. She added her own blue flame to it, creating an orange and blue sphere that looked so hot in the middle that it might melt through metal.

"Try to absorb this, Sparky!" She flicked her wrist and the sphere launched forward like a cannon ball.

Kris stepped forward to do just that, but a sudden green beam of light cut through the heat and made it dissipate, while destroying storefronts and pillars in the process.

"No, sorry!" Alex said, firing another quick one at Astoria. She was so shocked that she had her heat dispelled that she didn't dodge the blast, and was thrown several feet away into a heap on the ground.

Back on the top floor, Grant had already run into Jade. She seemed very off kilter, and generally concerned about what was going to happen.

"Why are you guys here, Matrix? Shouldn't you just leave while you still have the chance? You don't have a chance against any of us, and you know it!"

Jade laughed. "Sorry, but you are probably the one mutant on your team that is at a severe disadvantage against someone like me. You're aren't exactly long range."

As soon as she said it, tentacle-fingers suddenly shot from his hand, moving very, very fast. But that was the problem with attacking someone like Jade, especially since she discovered a new aspect to her powers only recently.

Suddenly a yellow dome of energy enveloped Jade and Grant, and his attacks slowed tremendously. She, however, was nearly too fast to see.

"I can affect more than one thing now, X-Dork," the girl explained, side-stepping the slow maneuvers as though she had super-speed. "Anything in this dome, excluding myself, can either slow down or speed up, based on what I want."

Grant was busy thinking of ways out of this situation, but no matter what move he made, she could counter it because they were so slow.

A quick thought occurred to him. Slowly, he retracted his fingers, despite the effects and waited on them to return. When they did, he used the advantage of the yellow light inside the dome to disguise his own body's strange color and snaked one of his fingers down the ground behind his thigh. Guiding it slowly while keeping her distracted with more limbs being flown at her at a turtle's pace, he finally felt the finger return to normal speed and snaked it all the way around the dome as quickly as he could.

Finally, he re-entered the dome from behind her, snaking his finger towards her. As soon as he touched her, his body returned to normal speed and he wrapped that whole finger around her as tightly as she could, while she screamed out about his cheating ways.

"I didn't cheat, Jade," he said as he walked out of her circle of effect, while keeping his fingers wrapped tightly around her like a rope. "No matter how you affected my body, you can't change the pace of my thoughts."

Camille looked around the corner and spotted Archie, sitting in the fountain, waiting for something. She cursed that she noticed him first, but eventually walked up to him.

He apparently didn't want to talk. Almost as soon as he noticed her, water shot out of the fountain like a cannon, before being directed at her. She cursed and searched for something she could control… nothing.

Concentrating, she reverted to mud at the last second, dodging the full brunt of the water but still washing part of her muddy body away. She cursed as he seemed to win with only one move, but then remembered her training. She essentially stayed down.

"Well, it seems that it only took one move this time, sis," he said, cockily walking up to her. "I guess that you really are weak, just like I thought."

When he was in range, she suddenly lashed out in her mud form and latched an arm made of a semi-solid around his ankle, pulling him down in surprise. He fell to the ground with a splash, before rushing at her in his water form. Soon enough, mud form met water form in a sloppy clash of liquid, like oil and water crashing together.

They grappled with hands made of the same quasi-liquid form, each trying to assert dominance over the next. Soon enough though, Archie concentrated on the water in the fountain and used it to blast Camille away, knocking her several yards away into the wall, where she turned into a sloppy puddle.

She slowly reformed, almost instinctually, but she was out for the count this time.

Ava gathered in the skies above the floor, looking for Tristan in case any funny business was to come from him. But as she looked, she saw someone else, someone new heading towards the escalator to meet all but Camille downstairs.

"Naomi?" she said, a little louder than she originally intended.

The girl looked up and locked eyes with her. **"Pual." **_Blow._

Suddenly, the wind holding her in the air was stripped from her as gale-force winds blasted her. Ava somersaulted through the air, threatening to hit the skylight window above if she didn't stop.

She gathered a counter-wind and hurled it against Naomi's own winds. The extra force pushed her into the ceiling, but it didn't hurt as much as before. Ava made a dip current and pushed away from the ceiling, gathering wind around herself, before throwing down a bolt of lightning from her hands.

At the last possible second, the girl finished her spell and the lightning collided against a purple-hued shield, unable to force its way through.

"Look!" yelled Grant as the other X-Men noticed Ava's lightning bolt do nothing. "Let's get up there and help!"

Alex was the first up the stairs, blasting the girl with a huge beam of emerald colored energy. At the last second, the beam diverted and crashed into storefronts, snapping them to pieces.

"Crap," the boy said as he ended his energy output.

"**Nagach."** _Push._

Alex was thrown into a pillar by an invisible force, the impact making his vision spin.

Grant attempted to entrap her like he had Jade, but before he could do anything, she spouted another word and the ground beneath his feet opened up and he nearly fell to the bottom floor, had he not grabbed onto the sides.

Ava landed again, hit Kris with an amaranth bolt, and the two began a two-pronged attack.

"**Hiphil."** _Fade._

The energy just disappeared before it could hit her, both orange and amaranth fading into nothingness.

Naomi pointed to the potted plant next to Kris and spoke a word, and the thing suddenly came to life and grabbed him, trapping him between his branches.

"Seriously? She's like a more powerful Dean!"

That hit everyone close to home. Rivera, trying to take initiative and thinking of Dean, threw her clones at the girl. But a circle of flame appeared around both of them, stopping them in their tracks. Just before anything else could be done to them, she summoned them back into her with a white flash, angry that she couldn't do more.

Regardless, the girl said, **"Nagach."** _Thrust._ And Rivera was hurled away with the same energy as had hit Alex, but she fell into the bottom floor, landing more softly in the fountain.

Ava was suddenly the last one conscious and able to move. "Naomi, we know your situation. You don't have to do this."

"Yes, I do," said the girl. "This is the only thing I'm good at."

"What? Causing destruction?"

The girl nodded. "Yes. **Abaddon." **_Place of Destruction._

Ava could do nothing as flames began to spread from her body, incinerating everything in place. She flew up and called out to her friends, who slowly realized something very, very bad was happening. The very air itself became stale and unbreathable, filled with sulfurous smoke. She continued to chant, changing pillars into snakes and leaving everyone completely shocked.

Grant managed to get to Camille, just as the entire second floor broke apart. He landed with a grunt and handed her to a still struggling Alex, and Kris helped get Rivera out.

Shadows began to lurch, centering on her and swirling like a portal. She was still chanting as cracks appeared along the ceilings.

"She's going nuts! She'll die!" yelled Jade as the Brotherhood gathered near the X-Men. It was only then that they realized Tristan was nowhere to be found.

"Wait! Where's Arsenal?" Ava yelled.

They were looking for him just as an almost tiny red blast aimed from the skylight hit the girl in the chest with just under lethal force. It was so sudden that she fell to the ground, just as the onslaught stopped.

Ava looked up to the roof to see Tristan suddenly leap off, just as the building fell inward, smoke and dust and ruin to great to save.

She summoned wind and slowed his fall, and he landed relatively softly.

"You… saved everyone," said Ava.

"But not her," he said, pushing dust from his eyes.

Everyone stared at the collapsed building, knowing that someone had just died.

Rivera latched onto Grant and started crying on his shoulder. He got choked up as the idea of a girl similar to Dean dying was just too much for him.

"Oh, god," Astoria said, rushing to pick through the rubble. "She didn't deserve this! We have to find her!"

A police siren suddenly came off in the distance.

"We have to get out of here, Astoria!" yelled Alex. "Everyone, seriously! Move!"

The two groups picked themselves up, leaving the premises on their separate ways. Their hearts were heavy with loss.

* * *

><p><strong>Wow. Chapter complete. Leaving it like that, although some of you may expect what will happen in the Season Finale. Honestly, I wasn't sure how I was going to end this one. Until that ^^^ happened. <strong>

**Speaking of the Season Finale, I'm not sure if I will have the first part of it done by next week, so bear with me. Life is complicated for the next two weeks, because my physics teacher is making us build a model house and wire it with electricity. We've gotta have like three different types of circuits and tiny switches and everything… It's going to be fun, but very time-sucking. When I finish the first part (if I don't finish by Wednesday) I'll post ASAP instead of waiting on the following Wednesday.**

**And a special Shout-Out to XxxCloudyxxX for the awesome character of Naomi David. **

**Oh, and if you were wondering, in my version, Harkness had a daughter whom she basically disowned because she didn't have any magical/mutant potential. The daughter went on to be a soldier and married an Israeli soldier while stationed there, and Naomi was born soon-after.**

_**EDIT: I posted this chapter earlier (although I don't think many people noticed, because there was a problem with the notification e-mail), but I had to go back and fix one of my "moments of stupidity." Geez, I made a character and plot inconsistency. Had I read through it more than once before posting, I may have noticed it. lol Sorry about that. Hopefully, this version, which only changed a paragraph or two, was slightly better. **_


	37. Day of Reckoning: Prelude to Revelation

_**Day of Reckoning:  
>Prelude to Revelation<strong>_

The sound of heavy feet splashing into water was the only sound he could have heard during the last several minutes. He was relying on his enhanced senses, but it was causing him more trouble than it was worth to try to decipher the splashes in the sewer water.

He'd relied on scent for the longest time, but sadly, sewers do not smell the best. It was very overpowering, and he started to wonder what the in the world people were eating these days.

"It had to be the sewers, huh?" he muttered under his breath, taking a deep whiff to get some kind of hint. When he looked up, he finally saw something, a shadow behind a pipe. "Gotcha."

Wolverine raced through the pipe, but his mutant senses must have really been confused. He didn't notice the man behind him, reporting back to his superiors on his location.

"The informant was right. This guy's definitely a mutant, and it appears he's chasing someone," the man said into his communicator.

"Shadow team, take the lead," shouted back the commander.

Wolverine kept moving, unaware of the teams of men following him. He stopped at another crossroads, suddenly sensing something off. He made several deep sniffs, as well as a mental note to burn his nosehairs when he got back to the mansion. When he was certain that nothing was out of the ordinary, he shot down another junction, splashing the whole way.

Wolverine crept close, realizing very quickly that he was near his target. He approached from above, sneaking over him. When he saw the tall, animal-like figure, he suddenly leapt from a platform and threw his heavy, adamantium-laced bulk into the man's back, feet first.

He did a somersault off of him, landing in the sewer several feet away. Sabretooth growled at him, but before Wolverine could move, he heard a familiar sound of bending metal.

A long sewer grate suddenly sprung to life and landed in the sewer between them. The Canadian mutant peered at it mysteriously, before it shot at him and wrapped around him, like some kind of millipede. Sabretooth took that as a cue and headed to the ladder before him, not getting very far until claws tore through the metal and the mutant was set free.

He growled and was about to pursue Sabretooth again, but suddenly, there was a bright light hovering over him. He grimaced and shielded his eyes, but it wouldn't save him from his fate.

The probe shot several green projectiles at him, and as they hit, they expanded like some kind of resinous goop. He struggled and attempted to cut through it as it surrounded his body, but he could do nothing to it. Within seconds, it solidified, and he was as useless as a statue, barely conscious.

Sabretooth smirked and climbed out of the sewer, deciding to get out while he still could.

* * *

><p>Beast sighed, wishing that he hadn't been sent to investigate Wolverine's last known coordinates. The sewer water was not exactly good for his fur.<p>

"What did you find?" he asked.

Storm shook her head as she approached him. "Nothing. Not a single clue."

"I don't get it," Beast said, pacing. "A guy like Wolverine isn't about to get taken without something getting diced up."

She looked down at the water, realizing that maybe the water was disguising something. "Hmm. You are absolutely right."

She concentrated on the air, suddenly whirring to life and taking the water with it. Soon enough, there was a full vortex of air forming, and she sucked up all the water in the area and maintained it in one location.

Beast took the opportunity to look for clues, and sure enough, there was a largely bent metal crate, with several cuts and various pieces missing.

"Hmm. These slice marks…very clean, very recent. That's our boy."

"Yes, but notice how unnaturally it's twisted and bent," noted Storm. "I've seen this kind of effect before."

Beast immediately realized it. "Magneto."

* * *

><p>Little did they know, a certain yellow-eyed owl was watching them through the missing grate, above the street on a light-post. As they realized who had done it, it flew off and into the night.<p>

Before too long, it arrived at its location. The bird of prey landed carefully inside the once-beautiful room. As soon as it touched the ground, its body began to twist and mold into a beautiful woman with blue skin and stark red hair.

She walked down the stairs, watching the mutants silently adjusting to recent events. Some were reacting, others didn't care. Astoria had gotten close to Naomi during the brief few hours they knew each other. Needless to say, her ever-present grin was an ever-present frown now. Her eyes were surrounded by red, splotchy skin as though she'd been crying.

Tristan was in his usual 'disconnect' mode that was ideal for an assassin of his caliber; he was the one who had taken the last shot, and even if it didn't kill her, it was the last thing she had felt before the entire building went down.

Jade was pretty mellow, as was Lily. Archie seemed to be a little off, but Mystique suggested it was more that he was guilty he had to fight his sister than it was that he was actually upset about the mall incident.

"Well, I see you are all hard at work building a brighter and better tomorrow," the woman said as she walked down. She'd been pretty lax on orders since Naomi's death, allowing them to grieve if they needed it.

"Can't we go out and do something?" asked Jade suddenly. "I'm tired of sitting around here doing nothing."

Mystique looked at her with a snide grin. "Oh, we're about to do something. Something very big. It appears our friend Magneto is up to something quite significant. Believe it or not, he's abducted Wolverine."

Everyone gasped. "Wolverine? Metal bones or not, that's an accomplishment," said Tristan.

Lily growled. "Nobody gets to kill or capture him except me and my father!"

"Well, that may be," snickered Mystique, ready to use that anger against her former employer. "But to actually snatch one of the X-Men? Why?" She sighed as she looked out of the window. "There's a larger strategy at work here, I can feel it." She took a deep breath. "Now I'm forced to make _my_ move!"

The Brotherhood looked at her and then at each other, and even Astoria was forced to wipe up her tears. The time for moping was over.

Action was now.

* * *

><p>The door to the Danger Room opened suddenly, revealing Camille covered in orange paint. She cursed herself in French and looked around at the other younger mutants, most of them had already been wiped out.<p>

"Geez, that session was rough. Rougher than usual," she remarked.

"Totally," Haley declared, trying to pick the paint out of her green-tinted hair. "What's his problem, putting us through something like that?" That was the question on all the eliminated students' minds.

Meanwhile, in the Danger Room, a rocky crag-like simulation was being produced. Explosions were ringing around the crag, breaking off rocks and sending them tumbling around. Smoke littered the area, making it hard to see. And even harder to aim at their objective.

Rivera and Reese were hidden on a cliff-face, surveying the area. Rivera could see the others, hidden far below them at the base of the cliff. On the other side of the chasm-like opening, surrounded in smoke, was the target. A life-size, robotic Magneto. Covered in a cloak and helmet, just like the real version would be.

"Look!" she cried out. "There he is!"

But before they could do anything to stop it, they heard the sound of the hovering drone behind them. It flew high in the sky and prepared to fire.

"Spartan! Get it!"

The black-haired, soldier-like boy raised his arm and generated his shield construct out of purple energy, covering both he and Rivera in a riot shield-like form. Orange projectiles clattered against it, but the impacts were nothing to the mutant boy.

When they stopped firing for a moment, he dispelled the shield and created a spear in his right hand. In one powerful stroke, the pre-teen hurled the energy rod at the drone.

To their dismay, the drone shot up suddenly, and the spear missed in an arc-like formation, falling to the ground harmlessly before disappearing.

It suddenly shot again, and Reese didn't notice it. "Look out!" Rivera cried out, throwing him to the ground. Orange splattered all over her chest and stomach, making her frown.

Reese, on the other hand, cried out for help as he tumbled towards the edge of the cliff. He lost his balance and fell, rolling down the rock hard and landing amidst the group of mutants below.

"What happened?" asked Alex, as soon as he was sure Reese was okay.

"Echo's down," he muttered, standing up and shaking himself off, trying to ignore the pounding in his skull. "The drone got him."

Kris shuddered. "That's one powerful drone. How'd it get practically all of us?"

Ava, her mind still on the events of last week, decided that she was not about to get overtaken by a single target again. "Hey, we're not down yet! Aurum, can you give us a birds' eye view?"

The gold-skinned boy nodded and suddenly stretched his head, snaking his neck along the cliff-side to peek over the corner and check to see where the Robo-Magneto was.

But before Grant could get half-way up, the drone suddenly appeared and fired at the group, spreading orange paintballs almost like a shotgun. Everyone backed up against the rock-wall, just as Grant yanked his head back to his body.

Ava suddenly took flight, dodging through the projectiles and hurled as much wind as she could against the drone. But it didn't seem to be phased by it.

"Here, let me help!" Augustus yelled, suddenly spinning his arms in the general direction of the drone. They rotated so fast that they became a blur, creating a sort of vortex that spread and combined with Ava's own. The two mutants together caused the drone to slam against the cliff-face, and the force was enough to blow it to pieces.

"Thank you, Spindle," she said as she landed. "Now, everyone, let's get ready to move!"

"You're stalling, Tempest," said a voice over the intercom. The disapproval was thick in the Professor's tone. "Magneto won't be sitting around, waiting for you to get ready or make tactics. Make a move, or relinquish command to Alex."

She nodded, masking her hurt. "Okay. Only thing left to do that we haven't tried is a frontal attack! Move!"

She took flight and flew high into the sky, looking straight down at the area where the robotic copy was supposed to be. The smoke was still clouding her sight, but a very fast gust of wind was enough to dispel it.

Alex and Kris found their way to the top of the cliff and both shot nearly identical blasts. The Robo-Magneto suddenly evaded the two energy attacks, but didn't move against them.

Grant attempted to make his body like a slingshot, while Reese created energy boulders, which Grant then hurled with his stretching powers. Again, the clone of the megalo-maniacal mutant simply evaded the attacks. Augustus even added his own spinning vortexes to make them go faster, but the boulders never made contact.

Ava charged as much air as she could around herself, electricity spiraling off of her body in waves. Amaranth bolts struck the ground around the clone, who was deftly dodging most of the attacks. Alex took initiative and fired one more blast, the distracted robot unable to evade it.

It suddenly exploded, breaking up the simulated earth underneath it and causing everyone to be blown out of the way. The shockwave was enough to make Ava fall to the ground, where she landed hard next to Alex and Kris.

"Where's Reese and Aug? And Grant?" she asked, looking around, but there was no sign of them.

They looked up to see both boys sailing lightly to the ground, bolstered by a parachute-shaped golden mutant, and even Grant's face was inscribed in the inside of the parachute. The sight was enough to make everyone laugh, lessening the tension for a moment. Augustus gave them a thumbs-up.

"This is no laughing matter!" the voice of Xavier barked over the intercom.

As soon as he was finished, four more drones suddenly appeared. Alex yelled for everyone to duck, but it wasn't enough. Soon after, everyone was covered in orange paint again.

"I want to see all of you in the planning room. Now!"

* * *

><p>"You rushed him? Like you were going to take him by surprise?" asked the Professor incredulously.<p>

"But, Professor, I-"

"You will never take Magneto by surprise! He is always two steps ahead!" exclaimed the telepath.

"What's up with you, Professor? You've never driven us this hard! We can't keep up!" Ava exclaimed.

The professor sighed and turned around in his wheelchair. "The incident with Naomi was a key factor in my decision to push you to your limits. It's difficult to deal with the fact that she died, and even more difficult to deal with the guilt that follows." He turned to look at them, each of them. "But you can't spend your time wondering what _would_ have happened. We have to prepare for mutants like her, mutants able to go to no lengths to stop you! Mutants like Magneto!"

"Are you asking us to stoop to their level?" asked Alex. "Are we supposed to be driven insane with our training?"

"Of course not," he said. "It's just that I-"

Rivera shook her head. "No, Professor. Stop. We're just kids! Things are going to go wrong, we're going to make mistakes!"

The professor looked at her, a fiery determination in his eyes that not a single one of them had ever seen before. "You expect Magneto to coddle you like babies? This is the real world. Clearly, not a single one of you are ready to face Magneto!"

"You're wrong," Ava argued.

"Am I?" the professor questioned, but didn't elaborate. He turned to the junior squad, the New Mutants. "You newer students, your inexperience will jeopardize the mission. I simply can't risk using you." Masato was the only one not visibly upset, but then again, he always looked like that.

"As for the rest, I'm left with a need to bolster your ranks," he said, as he whirled around to the entrance. "Therefore, I'd like you to welcome your new teammates!"

Everyone looked up to see the door open, revealing the five Brotherhood members looking very smug, as though they liked the idea that Xavier asked them for help. But at the same time, there was an emotional edge to the group. Astoria looked as though she was still fighting tears.

"Seriously?" asked Kris.

"They work with us one week, attack us the next," Grant groaned.

"What's the point of this, Professor?" asked Rivera. "After last week, not one of us wants them here."

Lily grumbled, "It's not exactly our choice either, Echo."

"Exactly," Archie reminded, not able to keep his eyes off of Camille. It was making her uncomfortable.

"It will be difficult for some of you, but despite your feelings, we face tremendous odds going against Magneto, and we will be a much stronger team with their help," the professor explained.

"If you don't want to be here, then why are you here?" asked Alex, pointing at Tristan.

"We have our reasons," he explained, smirking at Ava. The girl blushed but did nothing else in response.

"None of this matters," explained Xavier. "The point is that we need them to help us. Get over your personal feelings and start working together."

Alex rolled his eyes uncharacteristically. "Fine."

Ava nodded. "Agreed. But don't expect any special treatment, all right?"

Tristan agreed, and the two teams headed upstairs together.

Xavier called out after them. "I'm heading downstairs to use Cerebro. The sooner we find Wolverine, the sooner we can find Magneto."

* * *

><p>The first thing Wolverine saw as he resumed consciousness were the two men unloading him from the vehicle. He had no clue where he was or what was happening, only that he needed to get free.<p>

He suddenly growled and shot out his claws, striking out at one of the men who dodged at the last second. His claws stuck in the side of the van, and Wolverine used the leverage to lash out and kick the other man, the impact tossing him across the room.

The man growled and was about to strike the next man when the restraints around his wrists and ankles suddenly sent electricity coursing through his body. He yelled out as he was forced onto his knees by the pain, gripping his very being.

"Into the elevator," a man's voice said from behind him. The two men dragged him into said elevator, and soon enough, it was going downward.

Wolverine looked around the underground chamber, something not right about it. "This isn't Magneto. It's more like," he looked up to the man on his left, "…SHIELD."

"SHIELD has nothing to do with this," explained the man. "I severed my connection with that short-sighted government agency long ago. But I was there long enough, to learn about mutant scum like you!"

Wolverine sighed. "Oh, great. A fanatic." He looked up. "Okay, bub. What did mutants ever do to you?"

"You are a threat! A menace!" the man adamantly explained. "You poison our gene-pool and upset the natural balance of power!"

"We're not all the same!" Logan argued. "Some of us fight the good fight."

"Yes," the man agreed, "but _we_ get caught in the crossfire! Someone must ensure the survival of our species! Before it's too late!"

Wolverine looked up to see several large robotic parts move by on a conveyer belt. His eyes widened at the implications of what was going on.

"That's why I'm leveling the playing field," explained the fanatical man.

"Yeah? What do you think you're going to do?"

"Ah," the man noted. "Skepticism. Good. We'll see how long that lasts, after you've assisted me in a little… experiment."

* * *

><p>As soon as Xavier got a fix on Wolverine's healing powers, the teams were assembled and ready to move out. The Brotherhood, as well as Rivera and Beast were on the Blackbird.<p>

Meanwhile, someone else was ready, preparing some last minute business. She opened up the transceiver, a blip for where the others were about to go beeping in red.

Noting that the location had not changed, she smiled and then went straight for the security mainframe. She pressed a few keys and recalled something she had noticed the last time she was in the mansion, back when she stole the files for Naomi's powers.

She smiled as the words, "Defcon Four Countdown," appeared on the screen. The shape-changing woman smirked as she walked away.

* * *

><p>Reese ran towards the Velocity hangar, hoping to join the group even though Xavier said that he couldn't. But as he got close, he realized it was too late. Velocity and the Blackbird were already in the sky.<p>

Cursing, he headed back inside as fast as he could. As he did, he realized something very strange was happening. There were metal plates across the windows, and several klaxons were blaring.

"What in the world?" he asked. He was in the foyer when both Masato and Haley ran past him, but they definitely didn't stop to comment.

Reese looked over and saw the front door, still not covered in the same metal-plating as the other windows. He took a chance and dashed forward, just as it started to shut before him.

"No!" he yelled, reaching the glass just as it was covered. He was lucky that he hadn't smacked right into the material. "Damn it!"

He created a crobar with his powers and tried to wedge the door open, but was clear that it wasn't going to budge.

"Move!" Masato yelled, suddenly rushing forward in his black-skinned earth-form. He held out his fists like he would be holding a sword and swung them as hard as he could, trying to bludgeon the steel-plated door. It was denting the metal material, but nothing else was happening.

"We're locked in!" Haley yelled, coming behind him with Jackie and Aug.

They heard a whirring noise and were met with a laser blast, which only their training helped them dodge. Haley whipped out her hand and the potted plant suddenly burst into growth like a huge vine and grabbed the cannon mounted on the wall, crushing it in its grip.

"Come on! Let's get to the mainframe and figure out what's going on!" Reese yelled, generating a shield just in time to block another laser blast. He gave them cover as they ran into the hallway, heading straight for the elevator.

* * *

><p>Wolverine still had his hands bound, but his legs had been generously unlocked. He was the only one on the elevator now, and it was hard to see in the dark depths of the facility.<p>

"Step forward, Wolverine," the voice of Trask said from above.

The mutant did as he was told, hating every second of it.

Lights suddenly cut on, making him growl. "What's your game, Trask?"

"Call it, 'research.' I've created a prototype designed to defend mankind against the mutant threat," Trask explained, hitting a button and releasing Wolverine's handcuffs.

The lights suddenly cut off, making all of Logan's danger instincts act up.

"Meet my guardian of the human race," said Trask, "the Sentinel!"

Wolverine suddenly rolled forward, evading a huge foot from stomping him. He backed up slowly as something around twenty-five feet tall with shining yellow eyes walked towards him. His claws were now out and completely ready to defend himself, but he had no clue what was happening.

The behemoth looked directly at Wolverine before a triangle-like light suddenly lit up, illuminating the massive robot's form for a moment.

Logan did another roll as a large laser erupted from its body, exploding against the spot where he had been standing. But he didn't go far enough and the shockwave threw him against several crates along the wall.

He recovered with his combat reflexes, jumping from the spot as it was blasted apart by another blue light beam, sending wood shrapnel everywhere.

Wolverine ran forward, dodging two more blasts, but the third struck too close and sent him rocketing across the ground. He came to a stop near a tire and tried to clear his head, but then watched the machine step closer and closer.

He looked over quickly to realize that the tire was connected to a crane. He hopped onto it and waited for the Sentinel to get close, before he suddenly sliced into one of the crane's support beams, making the metal fall straight onto the robot's shoulder.

He grabbed onto the rope and sliced it, the pulley yanking him toward the robot. He landed on the Sentinel's metallic hip and began hacking at the giant with his claws. He spun around the body to evade its attempts to grab him, cutting as he went, but it wasn't enough. The monster robot snatched him and threw the Canadian mutant across the ground, hitting several crates that were lined up on the walls.

It stalked towards him. He could hear its footsteps, and Logan knew what was about to happen. He took a deep breath and picked himself from the crates, just as he saw the Sentinel's chest opening up.

Can't be good, he thought, jumping from the crates and heading straight for the frame on the wall. He attempted to climb up the tresses, but the Sentinel fired the missiles. They exploded against the base of the tower-like frame, forcing him to the ground in a heap.

* * *

><p>"C'mon, this way!" Reese declared, just as they passed yet another laser cannon. The underground was just as armed as the aboveground, to their frustration.<p>

Jacquleyn morphed into her tiger form and snapped one of the turrets on the wall in half, the thing crunching to pieces in her jaws. She spit it out adamantly before dodging another blast.

"Geez, do they ever stop?" Augustus said, spinning one arm to create a wall of wind, forcing a saw blade shot from the wall to be deflected. "I mean, seriously, what's the problem?"

Reese hurled another spear, impaling a tentacle as it shot out of the wall. "It's Defcon Four. Alex showed it to me," he explained. "Remember when we had that party, and the entire mansion went crazy?" Haley nodded. "Yeah, it's sort of like that. Only worse."

"Great," muttered Masato. "Just what we need."

Haley raced forward, pressing the button on the wall that lead to the Planning Room, where the security panel was located. She held the door as everyone rushed inside, and Reese yet again guarded their backs with one of his shields. As soon as he crossed the threshold, the door shut on its own.

"Guys, look at this!" Aug yelled, pointing to the console in front of him.

The computer panel kept repeating "alert" over and over again. And then the voice rang out, loud and clear, "Initiating Defcon Four Override. Switching to Demolition Mode. The mansion will self-destruct in ten minutes." The screen began to count it down, and every one of the New Mutants stared at the machine in horror.

* * *

><p>The spheres finally touched down, and the girl appreciated the time to stretch her legs. Sitting within a metal sphere was not the most comfortable position to be in, considering how she had to sit in fetal position.<p>

She touched one of her silver hairs in the darkness of the sphere, frowning that when they opened, the sunlight would change them into plain brown. In fact, she'd feel weaker in the sunlight. She automatically decided that she would do her best to keep herself covered; she may not like what her powers did to her, but in a situation like this, she needed full power.

Suddenly, the sphere opened and sunlight poured in. She cursed as she saw the same silver hair turn into the color of mud.

Stepping up, she looked around at her surroundings. Some kind of nondescript, abandoned warehouse. It was always warehouses, wasn't it?

She turned to her "teammates," although that was probably a strong word for them.

The tall, beast-like man with nasty blond hair that hung down in a rocker-like fashion was scary in his own way. _Victor Creed, AKA: Sabretooth._

On the other side of him was a man with a cocky, self-assured smile. He had spiky blond hair and was wearing a sickly-green and black combat uniform, with steel boots and shoulder pads. _Jayden "Jay" Richards, AKA: Acid._

A girl with blond hair and bright eyes stood next to him, with a sort of cheerleader look. She had a slight aroma that was ever changing. _Mandi Masters, AKA: Bliss. _

And last, but certainly not least, was the newest recruit. Strangely enough, she was probably the strongest one of them here, maybe more than the helmeted man in the middle. Her face was one of stupor, and every once in a while, her mouth quivered. Like a baby, strangely enough. _Naomi David, AKA Sorcerer. _

Valkyrie, the silver-haired girl, knew why that was. But before she could think further, the slightly larger sphere opened slowly.

The man wearing a red and purple suit of armor, complete with a cape and a matching helmet stepped out of the sphere.

* * *

><p><strong>How'd you like it? Everything is sort of set-up for next chapter! :D I had to make some changes, from the original plot (which is a good thing sometimes), because I couldn't see any of the X-Men leave the team like Scott did. In the ReduxVerse, things weren't as hostile between the Brotherhood and the X-Men as they were in the CanonVerse, since they had teamed up a few times. I just didn't think it logical, even if they helped Naomi fight last chapter. <strong>

**Speaking of last chapter, why no reviews from some of the regulars? Obviously, you reserve the right to review as you please, but it was kind of disheartening… And well, I screwed up and had to fix one of the details, so I guess you noticed. I just didn't expect almost everyone to hate it that much. **

**I'm trying really hard to make ^^^ that not sound so narcissistic. Sorry if it does, it was not my intention. **

**Yep, and Naomi _IS_ alive. You'll get a glimpse of how in the beginning of the next chapter. Also, some other loose ends will be expanded upon and hopefully relinquished. :D**

**Special Shout-Outs to EmberIce for Acid and Sai Axel for Valkyrie. And the other Acolytes, you've already heard about. :D**


	38. Day of Reckoning: Revelation

**_I know that it's a day early, but I got finished with it and decided, why not? Enjoy the finale to Season Two!_**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Day Of Reckoning:<strong>_  
><em><strong>Revelation<strong>_

"_You sure there's anything here?" asked the girl, surrounded in a silver aura as she flew alongside Magneto. During the nighttime, she was so much less limited than in the day. _

"_Of course there is, Valkyrie," explained Magneto. He waved his hand, and entire pieces of the building slid away. He did this for several moments, before Valkyrie realized that there _**was**_ something there. _

_She landed next to it and realized it was a girl who was in obviously bad shape. Her arms and legs were pointed in the wrong way, and her skin already had a sickly pallor, a stark contrast with the blood pooling from a head and chest wound. _

"_She's already dead, Magneto," the girl explained, kneeling next to her. _

"_Well then, you know what to do with her, don't you?"_

_She sighed as she pressed her hands on the girl's head and chest, covering both wounds. Silver light flowed around her, and shadows lengthened and stretched in a circle of darkness. _

"_I'm not sure if it will work," she explained. "I've only resurrected someone once, and it was under special conditions. The moon was in-"_

"_Yes, yes," he said, bored. "The moon was in retrograde. As it is tonight. Now, stop stalling and heal her." _

_She concentrated on her breathing and on breathing life back into the mutant girl under her palms. The shadows flowed freely around her, taking solid form and moving around almost like snakes. Silver energy flowed off of the wounds, and all was a good sign that it was going to go well. _

_Valkyrie considered stopping. She considered pretending like she couldn't heal her. But Magneto would know, and she'd rather not deal with his wrath. _

_She felt the energy being taken from her, and immediately, she felt pain in her head and her chest, in the exact spots where the girl would have been hurt. It was like a fiery itchiness that completely enveloped her being. She was suffering the same pain that the girl had felt, transferring it to her own body. _

_Slowly but surely, color seemed to return to the girl's body. Valkyrie felt the effects of the transfer, and she knew that in the end, if she tried to heal something too great, she'd die. Magneto knew that too. _

_And that was what scared her the most. _

_Suddenly, the girl heaved and shot up. A deep breath revealed her to be alive, and Valkyrie, like before, hoped that Naomi could avoid the effects of being resurrected…_

_Immediately, the newly resurrected girl began to cry, as though being reborn._

"_Remarkable," Magneto marveled, clasping Valkyrie on the shoulder. Her false, transferred pain was still throbbing._

* * *

><p>The Sentinel picked up a certain Canadian mutant. Its sensors checked for mutant life signs, and as they were detected, it switched to terminate mode.<p>

But before anything else could happen, it suddenly shut down.

Trask had been watching the whole thing, and as a team of mechanics and scientists hurried to analyze the giant robot, he smirked. "Cage the mutant for now, and run a full-scale diagnostic on the Sentinel. I want to know exactly how well it stood our little exercise. And then, we'll try this, again."

* * *

><p>"That's not good," Augustus remarked. "Not good at all. Does anyone here think this could be good, because it's so obviously bad!"<p>

Masato grimaced. "Spindle, please, shut up."

The African-American boy frowned, but didn't comment.

"What are we going to do?" asked Reese, trying to think proactively here.

Masato sat down at the console, Haley at his side. The two of them were the only ones who had worked with the systems extensively. As they typed and clicked, trying to defuse the situation with an override, the clock still clicked farther and farther down.

"Crap," Jackie whispered. "Can't you guys go any faster?"

Haley shook her head. "No. There's quadruple encryption here, and none of Xavier's usual passwords work to break them. It's as though someone-"

"Planned it?" asked Reese. "Yeah, I've been wondering the same thing. There's something going on with Wolverine, Magneto, and the mansion at the same time? Someone is playing us. Big time."

"Damn it!" Masato yelled, after trying to hack through the four-layered wall between themselves and salvation. Suddenly, he smashed his fist into the keyboard, the extra weight even when he wasn't in his earth form causing it to crack and split in half. "I can't do it."

"Well, you definitely can't do it now," Haley muttered, shocked but refusing to show it. She still had a blank expression on her face, with tiny hints of worry and fear written in the corners of her mouth and eyes.

Jackie whimpered. "What do we do then? Where do we go? We can't leave the Institute!"

_Cerebro,_ a voice whispered. A voice in their minds. It was too faint, unusual. But they didn't exactly have the time to figure it out.

"Would the Cerebro room hold up to the explosion?" asked Haley as they rushed out of the door. Masato raked straight through one of the turrets that spawned against him, and Reese sliced through another with a purple, glowing sword.

"It's possible! Everyone, get there now!" Reese exclaimed.

* * *

><p>Xavier swiveled the cameras while inside the Velocity, searching the area for any oddities. He finally zoomed in on several spheres of smooth metal.<p>

"Well, Magneto is here alright, and he's not alone," the man muttered.

"We should be out there with him," Storm pleaded, looking from herself to Keiko and back to the Professor.

"You both will be, but let's first see what surprises are in store for us."

"Team two, you'll find some familiar-looking loading orbs near the docks," explained Ororo into her headpiece communicator. "Stay alert, for Magneto brought friends."

"Gotcha," said the voice of Alex back.

"Team three, what's your status?" asked Storm.

"We're proceeding into the next sector," Beast answered back. Rivera and Astoria were behind him.

"Geez, I feel paranoid," Rivera said, shivering.

Astoria, unnaturally sad and quiet, only smirked.

"You were friends with her, with Naomi, weren't you?"

The flame-manipulator nodded. "Yeah. We were really hitting it off, but her powers were… too much for her."

Rivera nodded, knowing at least a fraction of what that was like. But she didn't comment on something that had nothing to do with her.

* * *

><p>Grant whipped his head over and peeked into each of the orbs. "Nothing," he muttered, retracted back to his body. "They seem to have disappeared."<p>

Alex, listening to his words, shook his head with disbelief. "The orbs are empty," he confirmed into the communicator.

"Anyone else not like this?" asked Archie.

Jade raised her hand. "I definitely don't."

"Where could they have gone? This is just too creepy," Kris muttered.

"Tempest, you got anything from above?" asked Alex into his communicator.

"No, nothing," she muttered, disappointingly. "They must be excellent at covering their tracks."

Suddenly, something struck Alex's neck. He pulled at it, expecting it to be some kind of mosquito bite. To his surprise, it was a spike formed of some kind of liquid, a spike that melted in his hands. As it fell on the ground, it corroded through some of the dirt.

He felt woozy and tried not to fall, but soon enough, he fell to his knees. "Watch… out!" he muttered, before he fell unconscious.

"Dynamo!" exclaimed Kris, wondering what could have happened. "What's wrong?"

"I believe I'm what's wrong, aren't I?" said a voice. All of them looked around, not knowing where it was coming from. "Up here!"

Suddenly, someone dropped on them. Jade held her hands up defensively, a yellow pulse of light hitting the man in mid-air and forcing him to crawl too slowly.

"Who are you?" demanded Grant.

"Acid," he explained in slow-motion, before suddenly whipping around and kicking Jade away from the area, dispelling her field in an instant. "Your powers corrode around me!"

The boy opened his palm and hurled a cloud of noxious gases. Archie flicked his wrist and a blast of water shot from the pipes, breaking the gas up.

"Get him!" Grant yelled.

Acid merely grimaced, before suddenly flipping away acrobatically. There was the sound of lurching metal as everything in the area seemed to be ripped from its place. Beams from buildings were torn and bent away, reducing entire columns to rubble.

The destruction headed for one place, where every mutant on the three teams was looking. There were some other people standing atop a huge pile of crates, each seemingly displaying their powers.

One girl with bright, silver hair was standing in the shadow of the crates, the black darkness around her bending to her will.

Another, Sabretooth, stood there, ready to pounce. If Logan were here, that look would be enough to start a fight.

A familiar face to all of them stood ready, watching and waiting. A blond-haired girl, a former member of the X-Men, was standing there with pink clouds of gases streaming around her.

And the last one was a surprise to all of them.

"Naomi?" exclaimed Astoria, fighting the desire to rush over to the girl. But if Naomi recognized her, she didn't make any sudden movements and stood there in stupor.

Shadows suddenly lashed out at the group, tinged in silver light. Anywhere a shadow appeared, something was attacking them. Rivera tried to kick through one, but they were solid until they wanted to be. Grant became entangled in one of them, the two seemingly at a stalemate.

Tempest suddenly flew in from above and tried to blast the umbrakinetic into submission with lightning bolts. She cursed as Sabretooth leapt forward to absorb the impacts, his healing factor somehow returning him to normal.

Tristan, seeing this display from the top of a nearby water tower, tried to shoot down Sabretooth like a sniper but one of the umbrakinetic's shadows blocked it.

Astoria, wanting to talk to Naomi, tried to rush forward but Acid got into her way. "No way, girlie."

"Out of my way!" Fire streamed from her fingertips, and the older man barely evaded the strike. He quickly countered by throwing more of his spike-like liquid poison.

A wall of mud appeared in between, blocking it. Camille nodded to Astoria to let her pass. The Goth appreciatively headed forward.

"Naomi!" she said as soon as she got close.

The girl didn't respond but just looked at the pyrokinetic.

"Naomi, it's me, Astoria. Your friend, remember?"

Naomi still didn't respond.

* * *

><p>"God, we only have one-minute left," muttered Haley as they finally reached the door to Cerebro.<p>

"Crap, it's locked!" Jackie said after trying to put in the pass code. Nothing happened.

Masato touched the wall suddenly and sucked in as much earth energy as he could. His body grew obsidian black and completely heavy.

"Reese, make a wedge," he muttered. "A big one."

Spartan barely had enough time to react before Stone-Heart turned backwards and ran towards the end of the hall at full-speed. He created a quick wedge as well as he could, putting it within the crack of the door.

Masato came back at full speed, denting the floor with the momentum such a mass could produce.

"Fifteen seconds!" yelled Haley.

Masato suddenly crashed into the wedge, forcing the hard-light construct into the crack of the door. It opened appreciatively, and not one of them wasted time getting inside.

As soon as they were inside, Reese turned off his powers. "Brace yourselves!"

Everyone backed into the center of the room as far as they could. One of them stepped on something, something they didn't expect to see.

"Professor?" asked Jackie.

The mansion exploded.

* * *

><p>As Trask had his team running diagnostics on Wolverine, he received a startling notion.<p>

"Is the Sentinel online?"

"No, sir."

"Well, get it back online!"

* * *

><p>Lily rushed at her father the soonest she had the chance.<p>

"Where have you been?" she yelled, her voice sounding much more menacing in beast mode.

Sabretooth didn't reply, but instead darted at his daughter. A quick slice to the ribs left Lily angrier than she had ever been.

She rampaged and struck, throwing him across the field, and right into Beast. The ape-like creature was waiting, however, and Victor Creed landed on the mutant's feet. Immediately, Beast kicked back upwards and hurled Sabretooth even farther. The feral man landed in a dumpster hard.

Meanwhile, Astoria was still trying to get Naomi to listen.

"Come on, listen to me, Naomi!"

"She is listening," muttered the silver-haired girl, who was standing behind a wall of shadows and blocking a lightning-enhanced Kris. "She can't speak."

"She's mute?"

The girl shook her head. "No. Not mute. She's been reborn with my powers."

"She… _did_ die? And you brought her back to life?"

Valkyrie snapped her fingers and more shadows suddenly grabbed at Kris, holding him down. He tried to shoot sparks to destabilize her powers, but they weren't working.

"Yes. She's basically a baby right now, and doesn't know how to do anything."

Astoria didn't know how to process this information. But she didn't have to for very long. Metal beams appeared out of nowhere and grabbed her, lifting her high into the sky. She tried to blast them with her fire, but it did nothing to stop it.

A green blast of energy rocketed towards her and collided with the beams, breaking them apart and releasing her. She looked over to see Alex, having already recovered from Acid's poison.

"Gotcha covered," he muttered, still weak.

Meanwhile, Xavier was watching the whole thing with earnestness. Storm and Origami watched, waiting for their turn.

Someone forced open the copter door. Storm immediately put herself between Xavier and the newcomer, a certain blond girl they were all familiar with.

"Mandi?" asked Storm.

The girl wasted no time speaking, generating a cloud of multi-colored gas over her palm. Origami hit the button on her image inducer, revealing her paper form and changing her arms into swords. Winds began to blow within the heli-jet.

Storm's eyes flashed with white light as she pushed the girl back with wind. Origami swung and threw out several paper-like spiked balls, forcing the girl to try to dodge.

"Your powers may be formidable to a telepath," muttered Keiko. "But you're no match for us."

Mandi, for lack of not trying, threw out several clouds of pheromones and chemicals towards them. But Storm's winds deflected them as easily as anything else. Lightning raced towards her and knocked her unconscious, barely more powerful than a taser.

Ava, meanwhile, was in the air. She watched the various fights, trying to aid anyone in trouble. She saw Kris land a solid hit on Valkyrie, throwing her away from the fight. Acid was brought down, finally, by Camille.

Soon enough, the radio clicked on.

"Look! That building, eleven o'clock!" the voice of Tristan commented. "It's Magneto!"

Ava smirked. "Everyone, follow me!"

* * *

><p>Magneto almost grinned when he saw the fights were mostly broke up now, and everyone was heading towards him. Naomi was still unresponsive, but she was following Astoria. Valkyrie, Sabretooth, Mandi, and Acid had all gone down already, and he had returned them to their pods.<p>

"It's time."

Raising both hands, he focused all of his attention and powers on the huge construction area. The mutants were struggling to remain upright as he forced the secret base hidden underneath to rise. Finally, the ground underneath the huge group broke apart, forcing a huge hole in the earth.

Ava, seeing the display, tried to rush straight to Magneto, pouring on whatever speed she could muster. Clouds rumbled over head, lightning gathering.

A steel beam locked onto her legs, another on her arms. He flicked his wrist, and she fell into the hole that the others had fallen into not a moment before.

She fell, angry, yet thankful that Magneto had been kind enough to remove the beams when she actually landed. Her friends and the Brotherhood were all gathered, seemingly all of them, even Tristan.

None of them were seriously hurt, thankfully. The six X-Men and the five Brotherhood cursed, wishing that they hadn't been sent tumbling into some kind of underground chamber.

Suddenly, the sound of guns loading caught their ears.

"Great," Jade muttered, yanking her hand off of Kris's chest.

There were agents everywhere, all around them, wearing similar clothes. Each held a gun in hand, aimed at the large circle of mutants.

"Don't move," Tristan muttered, spitting out the grit from falling.

"Wasn't planning on it," Rivera muttered.

"Hold your fire," a voice said. No one knew who it was, but it was obvious that he was the one in charge.

Rhythmic thuds rang out from an adjacent room, getting louder and louder.

"What's that?" Alex asked.

Grant's eyes widened. "It sounds like… footsteps?"

Something very large ripped through the wall. Everyone watched in horror as a large and very armed giant robot stalked towards them.

* * *

><p>Magneto listened closely, hearing the almost melodic sound of the Sentinel's feet. As soon as he heard it, he aimed one hand at the spheres which held his Acolytes. The spheres shut at his command and then flew far into the city, where they would be safer.<p>

"And now, the whole world will know of us!"

Magneto held up his arms, raising the platform that the kids and the Sentinel were standing on.

Soon enough, the mutant-killing robot had risen from the underground and was standing in plain-sight.

The predator stalked toward its prey, just as a new helicopter flew by.

Magneto smiled.

* * *

><p>The Sentinel fired at the group, shooting pink energy blasts at them. The first thing Tristan noticed was that they weren't very accurate at hitting moving targets, his brain already working in "assassin" mode, while everyone else was running for their lives.<p>

He aimed a double fist shot, hoping to strike a killing blow with one hit, knowing that it would be the only shot he'd get. The red energy beam crashed against the Sentinel's head, but it made almost no impact.

"Shit," he muttered, swiping his hands over his arms to try and reload faster. It wasn't working.

Ava joined the air again and concentrated all of her efforts in an amaranth-colored lightning bolt. Thunder boomed over head as she hurled the lightning lance at the Sentinel. It hit the monster-machine's chest, throwing it backwards several feet.

Suddenly, a blue lightning bolt collided with it just after the other, flinging it farther away. Ava smiled at Storm, before the two of them tried to blow the creature back.

It ignored the gale-force winds, before unleashing a machine gun-like flurry of energy blasts on the group. Everyone split up and raced backwards, adrenaline pumping as they headed into the street.

Rivera, relying on acrobatics she had mimicked to get away, chose not to send out her vulnerable clones. As she did a backhand spring to dodge a blast, Lily suddenly grabbed a car up into her impressive strength and hurled it with a feral roar. Camille threw up her arms as the creature and the car met, exploding into the street. She reformed from mud and turned back to the Sentinel. Concentrating, she suddenly broke open three manhole covers with sewer water at her control, flinging it at the creature to try to blind its sensors.

Archie, noticing her sister, aimed his fist at a water hydrant and broke open the top, sending pressurized water straight into the creature.

Ava and Storm sent a huge bolt of electricity at the creature, and for a moment, it seemed it would work. But the creature suddenly unleashed several blasts of energy and hit the two Wind Riders out of the air, crashing against the pavement.

"Ava!" Alex yelled, stopping in the middle of the street. Aiming, he repulsed some of green energy in the direction of the robot; Jade, seeing the display, mixed one of her speed bolts with Alex's own attack, speeding the energy up to insane levels.

A large explosion filled the street, and only a quick, rubber-like shield made by Grant's body defended them from the energy wave.

But to their dismay, it seemed nothing had happened to it aside from tiny bits of scratches and wide berths in the street.

The Sentinel unleashed a barrage of what looked like green goop. One of them hit Lily, rendering her immobile. Another hit Beast, forcing him still. Rivera saw one heading her way, but she summoned her clone right in front of her, and it absorbed the slime. She ran backwards and re-summoned her clone to her mind, getting out of the slime at the same time.

By this time, police had arrived on the scene, but they remained powerless to do anything. Storm walked forward, a vortex of wind around her body. She raised her hands and added electricity to the tornado, before enveloping the Sentinel. Part of his cannon-like arm broke away, before it used thrusters in its feet and arms to stabilize itself and fly out of the wind-tunnel. It then flipped in the air.

"Watch out!" screeched Camille, getting her and Astoria out of the way at the last moment. But before she could say or do anything otherwise, the slime surrounded the two of them, forcing them to quit moving just as the others.

The Sentinel turned and released several missiles. Grant, thinking as fast as he could, made another wall with his arm and they exploded against it, making him scream out in pain; he retracted his arm and the entire thing was blood-red, skin wounds deep.

Rivera, scared now, rushed over to him. "Oh, god, are you okay?"

He nodded quickly, but before he could say anything, Kris suddenly called out to Jade.

"Guys, I have an idea! Jade, will you help me?" asked Kris.

A tiny blush crept to her face, even amidst all the trouble. The girl nodded, as the others (Alex, Ava, Grant, Rivera, Storm, Keiko, Tristan, and Archie) joined them.

"Jade, slow it down. As much as possible!" Kris said, before pointing to Alex, Ava, Storm, and Tristan. "Hit me with everything you have!"

Jade, no longer listening, threw a huge bolt at the Sentinel. It enveloped around the creature, buying them precious moments.

"You sure this will work? Is it safe?" asked Storm.

He nodded. "We don't have time to think about it."

He stood directly in front of the creature and everyone got out of his way. Ava and Storm nodded to one another, before firing two bolts at the boy, hitting both of shoulders as though he had wings made of electricity. Immediately, the energy slipped into his body instead of affecting him negatively.

Tristan prayed that he would have a substantial amount of energy left, as he fired what he could at Kris's body. Green and red mixed together, expanding just before it collided into the energy absorbent-mutant.

Sparks were flying from his entire body now, and he was glowing brilliantly with golden-orange light. He took a deep breath, almost screaming at the energy burning within him.

Finally he outstretched both arms and splayed all of his fingers. The yellow aura slowing the Sentinel down dropped, just as the most magnificent show of energy anyone on earth had ever seen blasted through the Sentinel.

The beam was pure white with an orange tint, and it cackled like electricity. There was a huge explosion, enough to throw everyone back and break every window for a quarter of a mile.

When the light faded, Kris was still bubbling with energy. He unleashed one more blast, this time much less powerful, at the Sentinel through the smoke cloud.

"No way," he muttered, his whole body fighting to even stand.

The Sentinel reappeared, and although it was missing several chunks and almost a whole arm, a force field surrounded its body and had taken most of the impact.

"Damn it!" Ava cursed, earning a disapproving look from Storm. "None of us have any juice left!"

They ran backwards, hoping to avoid its recovery as much as possible. The Sentinel, however, didn't aim at him.

Suddenly, it started to fly towards the building where Magneto had been. The metal-manipulating mutant was trying to keep military helicopters at bay with his powers, believing it to not be time for them to intervene.

Unnoticed before, he was blasted with purple energy beams, throwing him to the ground. Magnus looked up to see the Sentinel floating just over his head.

The mutant unfurled his fist and sent the Sentinel flying away, before making a gesture with his wrist to fling the tall metallic robot into a building. He saw the heli-jet approach in the distance, flying high above it before firing a huge chain of bullets at the Sentinel.

Magneto waved Xavier away with a hand, but that was all the Sentinel needed. It fired two missiles right at the metal-head.

Magneto parted his hands and the two missiles separated, curved around, and collided with the machine itself.

The explosives were enough, it seemed, after the children had used their potential super-weapon to their advantage.

Magneto, however, had not seen expected that the Sentinel would come crashing down directly on top of him. He gasped as it exploded.

The heli-jet landed. "Get in! Now!"

"But the others…"

"We'll have to come back for them! Move it!" Xavier yelled.

Everyone climbed inside, as the secret they had been harboring was spreading like wildfire.

* * *

><p>Not a single one of them expected to see what they would see.<p>

As they rounded toward the cliff, the mansion's ruins came into view.

"Oh no!" exclaimed Ava.

"What about the others? Masato? Reese?" asked Keiko, frowning.

Quickly, the heli-jet landed and everyone rushed out to look among the wreckage for survivors.

"They're not here," exclaimed Alex. "Jackie? Aug?"

"Over here!" someone yelled. A group of teenagers approached, clothing tattered and charred. Reese was at the head, followed by the other, younger students.

Masato broke away from the group and activated his earth form, confusing everyone at first. Keiko rushed over to hug him, to make sure he was all right. But he pushed her out of the way.

He rushed over to Xavier's chair, building up momentum and throwing his hand directly into the mutant's heart, crushing it like a stone.

* * *

><p><strong>Season Two: Complete. <strong>

**I'm going to work on the next few chapters over the next few weeks, but I don't think I will post them until at least three weeks from now. If I can get lots done so I'm ahead, everything will work out just fine, and I will post on the second to last Wednesday in May. :D**


	39. Redux Recap

_**Since it's been almost a year since the story began, and two full seasons later, I thought I would give a catch-up of some of the main events. So here goes nothing!**_

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><p><em><strong>Redux Recap<strong>_

The world never knew what would be coming, that much was for certain. They never knew the secrets that a neighbor could be hiding. They never knew the most private issues that a friend, a loved one, a sibling, a son could be hiding.

Each one of these "secret-keepers" knew that they would be feared. They knew that the world would not be kind to them. It has a history of intolerance and hate for those who are different.

These "secret-keepers" are called mutants, a term derived from the random mutation called the X-Gene that can gift one with incredible, almost supernatural powers. These mutations manifest at puberty and can be as varied as telekinesis, shooting lasers from the eyes, and even angelic wings.

Seeking to foster young mutants and help with managing their abilities, Professor Charles Xavier, a telepathic mutant, founded the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters. This school would be a beacon of hope for mutantkind. He knew what a tumultuous time becoming a mutant could be. He wanted to ensure that when they grew into adulthood, these young mutants would be able to thrive in society and would not be corrupted by their power.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely. No one would know that better than Charles Xavier. His greatest friend would one day become his greatest enemy.

Students began to pour into the school. Coming at almost the same time but from different backgrounds were Ava "Tempest" Bronte and Alex "Dynamo" Rogers. They were a sort of trial run for the Institute, and it soon became obvious that controlling teenagers was both rewarding and challenging.

More students began to come two months afterward. Kris "Sparkplug" Tanaka, Rivera "Echo" Smith, Grant "Aurum" Forsythe, and Dean "Winter Rose" Rocca soon joined the Institute with different backgrounds and abilities. Professor X was amazed at how these teens could work together and the drama that befell them.

But everything wasn't fun and games. Over time, it seemed that someone was recruiting another team of mutants, seemingly to challenge the X-Men. They would become known as the Brotherhood, a band of misfit mutants that loved to cause mischief and suffering. Their members included Tristan "Arsenal" Hawkins, Astoria "Spice" Urving, Jade "Matrix" Rasle, Archie "Madidus" Jones, and Lily "Belle" Creed. They seemed to make it a goal at every turn to get on the X-Geeks' nerves.

After an encounter with a powerful technopath, a troublesome visit from an empath, a battle against the unstoppable Juggernaut, and the discovery that Arsenal's father was set out for revenge, it seemed that the drama kept unfolding. The X-Men were surprised to learn that Bayville High's own Principal Darkholme was the one gathering the Brotherhood. This betrayal of trust soon led to strange events and strange places.

Xavier sensed that someone from his past was involved, but it still was a surprise when he realized that Magneto had returned and was involved. He ordered Mystique to pit the Brotherhood against the X-Men, and only the victors were allowed to join him on Asteroid M. The remaining X-Men and Brotherhood arrived and battled them again, this time barely winning. The asteroid was destroyed, with both Magneto and Mystique inside, their fates uncertain.

Weeks passed and more mutants joined the Institute, students and faculty alike. These students became a team of their own, the New Mutants, when they rescued their mentor, Origami, from the Savage Land Mutates.

The school semester started with a fresh Principal Kelly, and the Institute students had fresh worries about mutant exposure after they were forced to use their powers to save people in a freeway accident. The Brotherhood clashed again with the X-Men when they exposed themselves to the entire stadium full of swim team fans. The thugs were stopped and Xavier mind-wiped the entire crowd, preventing the exposure of mutant kind- all except for the suspicions of Kelly.

The semester included more drama. Dean left the mansion, feeling inadequate because of her unstable powers. Another student, Camille "Mudslide" , joined after her, the long lost twin sister to Archie. The teacher Hank McCoy's mutant-surpressing serum stopped working and he became the Beast he was always meant to be, joining the Institute as one of its teachers. Kris had a near explosive power overload, the powerful technopath Monitor nearly took over the Danger Room, and relationships seemed to start to form. Ava learned to fly in the nick of time, Magneto returned when he tried to go after a powerful Level Five mutant, and a mission to infiltrate HYDRA proved chaotic and dangerous.

The Sadie Hawkins' Dance proved love was in the air for some students, but others were left heartbroken or rejected; but it was also filled with problems because a mutant attacked. That mutant turned out to be a member of a group called the RingMasters, who operate under a telepath named Mesmero. This group was personal to the Institute because, as it turns out, Dean seemed to have joined them. They sought a key and clashed with the X-Men over it, hoping to unleash an ancient force on the world.

The dangers didn't stop when an unstable mutant joined the Brotherhood. She seemingly killed herself because her powers were just too much for her to control, unleashing them in full force during a battle with the X-Men.

Days later, it seemed that several forces were all getting ready to move towards a huge battle.

Bolivar Trask kidnapped Wolverine and tested the mutant-hunting Sentinel robot on him, and he was soundly defeated. Both the X-Men and the Brotherhood thought that Magneto was involved, so it seemed that both were ready to make their move. Forming up together, they tracked Wolverine to the docks, where they didn't realize that they would soon find Magneto's Acolytes. Shocking all of them was Naomi, who had been brought back to life by the Acolyte Valkyrie, but she was basically reduced to a newborn in the process.

Meanwhile, at the mansion, the New Mutants were left alone and the entire mansion went into Defcon Four. They had to fight their way to the lower levels, and arrived only just in time to realize that the mansion was set to self-destruct. They fled to Cerebro, seeing that the only way to survive would be that room.

Back at the docks, the mastermind Magneto summoned all of his powers to break open the ground underneath the X-Men and Brotherhood's feet, while the Acolytes fled. The two mutant teams suddenly found themselves in Trask's hidden bunker, where the Sentinel was waiting.

Magneto raised up the platform, raising the teen mutants and the mutant-killing robot into the open air. The Sentinel immediately began to fight them, and the entire thing was broadcasted to the world.

The mutants fought valiantly, but several went down in the process, captured by the government. They barely get away just after the Sentinel explodes, seemingly taking out Magneto as well.

The remaining members of the X-Men and Brotherhood return to the mansion, only to discover that it had exploded. Everyone races to find survivors, only to discover that the New Mutants were alive and well.

But something wasn't quite right. Masato, confusing everyone, rushed over and jabbed right through Xavier's heart.

* * *

><p><strong>Hopefully, this will help, even if it's just a little bit of help. New chapters should start next week! I'm sorry for the extremely long break, because I didn't quite expect that much time would be spent off, but it just happens. And then I come back to you with a recap... Shame on me.<strong>

**Anyway, expect Day of Recovery next Wednesday. If not, it won't be later than next Friday, June 15. **


	40. Day of Recovery: Day of Requiem

**While I realize that you can't exactly see it very well, the story-cover definitely has a picture with the six X-Men on it! I've put a link to a larger image on my profile!**

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><p><strong>Day of Recovery:<strong>  
><strong>Day of Requiem<strong>

The seriousness of the situation was apparent as soon as Masato pulled his black, stone-hard hand from the professor's chest.

Ava didn't think. Didn't consider the options. Her amaranth bolt struck the boy's chest, shocking everyone yet again.

But it did little to him in his earth form. The boy picked himself up and growled as the professor's body collapsed in his chair.

"Charles!" exclaimed Storm, her face grim and angry.

"What did you do? That's the professor!" shouted Kris, sparks involuntarily flying around his hand.

Everyone started shouting at once, each trying to get their two cents into the argument. The Brotherhood didn't know what to think or how to react, but they were just as scared and shocked as the Institute was. Origami and Storm were trying to calm the situation down, but their voices were useless.

Suddenly, a roar blasted from the side. A white tiger jumped onto the scene, standing between Masato and the other X-Men. It morphed into the familiar form of Jackie Deveraux, aka Tigress.

"Stop arguing and look!" she pointed towards Reese, Augustus, and Haley, who had been trying to get in between the fight to explain the situation.

Behind them, to their surprise, was a purple stretcher, shining with energy. Spartan. Lying on the stretcher was a certain man, the explanation shocking them all.

"Professor!" shouted Rivera, running over to him.

"He's alive, but barely," Reese explained. "Geez, you guys. Didn't Logan teach us to be a little more observant?"

Confusion was evident on everyone, especially Grant. His brain was trying to wrap around this. "If that's the professor, then who is..."

Everyone gasped. The body lying in Xavier's chair slowly started to change, revealing the true form: it was Mystique, her blood looking purple against her blue skin.

Archie immediately turned on Masato. "You killed her!" He suddenly morphed into his water form and shot a jet of water from his arm, knocking the boy back a few feet. Against the weight of his stone form, the water couldn't do much.

Masato turned and spat at the ground, before looking back and clenching his fist in anger. "She sabotaged the mansion, drugged the professor, and caused our house to explode! She deserved to die!"

Everyone suddenly started to fight again, but this time, Storm wasn't going to handle it. Wind suddenly flickered out and divided them all again.

"Enough fighting. It's not going to solve anything," she muttered, before looking down at the body. "I... don't know what to do."

Grant's mind immediately flickered with the opportunity. "Kris, supercharge her. For only a second, please!"

Kris wanted to argue, but the smart kid gave him a look. Kris let a little energy trickle off of his finger like a sparking liquid and then tapped Mystique's forehead.

The energy shot through her body from her head to her toes.

At first, nothing happened. But after a moment, to their shock and awe, the wound started to close up. The shapeshifter was regenerating subconsciously by transforming the wound.

Everyone, especially the Brotherhood, sighed with a relief they didn't know they could even feel for her.

"How'd you know that was going to work, Grant?" asked Alex, the first to speak after a brief moment to consider what was happening.

"I didn't," Grant said sadly. "I didn't know if it was going to work, but I'm glad it did. I... No one deserves to die like that." Everyone couldn't help but glance at Masato, afraid of what he was going to do.

"I'm still so confused," Jade said. "What happened?"

Augustus gestured to Mystique. "She kidnapped the professor from the mental hospital when he was going to visit Naomi a couple weeks ago. She assumed his role and drugged him, keeping him locked up in the Cerebro room. I'm not sure how no one knew this was going on, but she forced Xavier to use Cerebro when it was necessary while she kept up the charade."

"She has been pushing the two teams together to stop Magneto," Jackie explained. "She played us all."

Masato spat at the ground. "She sent the mansion into Defcon Four before she left as Xavier for the fight. The Institute went into Self-Destruct mode soon after. She blew up our house!"

Storm looked to her right, staring up at the sky. "Look, we have to stay focused on one thing at a time. Some of the others... we had to leave them behind. Camille, Lily, Astoria, and Beast are gone, probably captured."

"Or dead," Archie muttered.

Jade flicked him on the arm. "Shut up."

Before any other plans could be made, sirens suddenly cut through the tension like a knife. They looked over to see police cars, military humvees, and helicopters heading towards the site of the explosion, tailing the mutants. They approached from all sides until it seemed that there was a semi-circle of vehicles surrounding them, with the ruins of the mansion behind them.

Cops flooded out of their cars, not sporting their weapons just yet. "Everyone, freeze!"

"Don't freeze!" Tristan yelled, pointing a finger and firing several blasts at the cops' boots, instantly turning them to melted piles of rubber and leaving them trapped on the ground.

As everyone began to split up in the chaos, Alex knew something had to be done about the military. He slammed a fist forward and immediately shot off a blast that destroyed a tire of an approached humvee, causing it to turn over and swerve into another.

Keiko slid her arm through the air, sending papery shuriken to destroy tires and impede vehicles. She created paper wings and floated above the area, clearing a path for the New Mutants into the woods. "Spartan, get Xavier and get him out of here! Masato, stay here with me and hel-"

Haley gasped. "He's gone, Origami!"

She spun around and was surprised to see that Masato had indeed slipped away during the confusion, apparently still angry and frightened and guilty, all at once. "Doesn't matter. Get Xavier out of here!"

The New Mutants rallied behind her. One of the helicopters approached from the air, but Haley suddenly flicked her wrist and the trees nearby grew into a solid wall between them, making the copter try to detour.

Augustus spun his arms through the air and created a horizontal vortex, slamming into two police dogs and throwing them into the vehicles. "Don't call animal patrol, please!"

The New Mutants, minus Stone-Heart, followed Reese and Xavier's stretcher into the woods, Haley and Origami providing cover as they went.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the lawn, the X-Men were trying to make their escape. Several cop cars tried to approach, but Jade threw out her hands and created a dome of yellow energy around them, slowing them nearly to a halt.

"Here! While I've got them, get Mystique and head out!" she yelled back. Archie and Tristan both nodded and followed the other X-Men, Mystique and her stolen wheelchair in tow.

Ava, meanwhile, had tried to create a fog cover, but all she could get was a tiny puff of smoke. She cursed and tried harder, but Storm suddenly flipped on her powers and a huge cloud of fog reduced visibility for everyone.

Ava sighed and guided the others towards the front lawn, wishing that she didn't suck so bad at things like clouds and rain.

One of the cops, seeing the display of all the powers, seemed to think a tazer would work. He shot at Rivera, but Grant suddenly whipped into action, becoming a human shield shaped like a shield. The electricity hurt him, but for the most part, it merely passed through as a weak current.

Rivera then produced her two clones, both appearing on either side of the cop. One snapped him on the shoulder with a quick chop, and the other made a quick side kick, throwing the cop into a tree. "Thanks," Rivera muttered as she pulled her clones back into her mind, giving Grant a weak smile. "Let's go!"

At some point, they called for reinforcements, but against the mutants, not one of them was prepared. Alex and Kris fired weak blasts, the latter of borrowed energy, to blast away their guns. Rivera would then move in and apprehend them with simple hits that only those best trained by Logan could know.

Another car approached, but Matrix shot one of her bolts at it. "There! Get inside, and we'll drive out of here in style!"

Tristan stopped the wheelchair and approached the car, careful not to step into the slow-mo aura that Jade was creating. He aimed quickly, a red burst of energy knocking open one of the doors, another apprehending the officer inside. Archie concentrated on the water within his body and yanked the officers out of the car like a tidal wave, before reforming. He and Tristan sat Mystique and the wheelchair into the car, before climbing in themselves. With Tristan at the helm, the remaining members of the Brotherhood shot off.

Alex suddenly found himself surrounded by Humvees, and no matter what he did, they were too numerous.

"Alex!" Ava yelled, suddenly floating down and bringing in the fog cover to confuse them. She grabbed onto his hand, holding it tightly and relishing in the feeling, before flying up and out of there, before any of the soldiers could complain.

She dropped down to where Storm, Grant, Rivera, and Kris were waiting, trying to hide in thick fog. She wasn't able to hold him in the air for long, if at all, but it managed.

"Let's sneak away, through the side entrance!" suggested Rivera. "They're going to have the front entrance blocked badly."

The others nodded, deciding to slip through one of the secret passages that only the Institute knew about.

The Brotherhood were so glad that they were free. They were nearly at the gate before they all realized that the military actually had tactics.

"Shit!" muttered Tristan, nearly veering off. "Archie!"

The boy was already on it. He concentrated so hard on the ocean nearby that it finally did what it was supposed to do: it rose. Several tendrils of large water that almost looked like tentacles on some sea monster shot at the hijacked police car, surrounding it in a variable bubble. It kept coming and coming and coming that Archie nearly started to become unstable, dripping on the back seat next to Mystique.

Jade concentrated on them, ready to produce a speed-up aura when needed. Archie's body began to vibrate apart as he fought so hard with his powers.

The water outside quickly became a variable bullet, enough to shield any impact. Jade understood her cue and speed everyone up.

The humvees didn't stand a chance as the watery bullet car shot through the barricade, thankfully not injuring anyone. As soon as they were through, the boy dropped the water control and slacked in the backseat, leaning against the front seat and "sweating" profusely.

"I hope you enjoyed that this time, guys. Because I will never, ever do it again," he complained, groaning.

A nap and a six pack. He'd take them in any order at this point.

* * *

><p>They'd heard the news broadcasts on the radios. They'd seen the way the world reacted on the news.<p>

Needless to say, the New Mutants were terrified. Reese was scared for Masato; where was he at this point? Was he hiding behind a dumpster in an alleyway, waiting for the police and military to find him, just as they were?

Not a single one of them could understand Masato's actions. Why would he have been that angry with Mystique? An extreme reaction, wasn't it? He'd practically killed her, even if she came back! That was not someone that Jackie wanted to be around, but she still worried for him. He was her friend. They were his friends.

They were glad that Origami managed to come with them, using her image inducer to appear as someone else so that they could get some food. In the hours after the incident, the news had carried the entire world into a state of shock and fear. The news reporters were eating it up. Fox News called them all abominations, but Jackie didn't care for the hypocrites. The president tried to issue a statement to stop the alarm, but it was a deep-rooted fear from this point on. How could they go on to a normal life?

"How's Xavier?" asked Haley, pointing to the still unconscious Professor.

"He's doing all right," Origami said. "Still comatose."

Jackie heard the whir of the chopper before anyone else. She pointed up, and Origami pointed to the sewer manhole cover.

"Get down there! I'll get him to the hospital. No time to argue, go!"

They opened it up and everyone filed it just in time, Reese pulling it shut as soon as the searchlight would have peeked over it.

Keiko, thinking about the options, placed Xavier directly in the center of the alley, lying prone against the ground because Reese's energy stretcher would fade any second. She thought hard and hid against the wall, folding herself up uncomfortably- no, painfully- into a stack of paper.

The chopper's light passed over Xavier's form and stopped. There was movement after a couple moments, and a police car zipped by, probably warned by the chopper.

They called an ambulance after seeing the man, and soon enough, an ambulance had appeared. Keiko sighed with relief as they placed him on a stretcher into the ambulance.

As soon as she thought it was going to drive off, she suddenly unfolded herself and created her wings. She took flight after a few downward flaps, before immediately following the ambulance as it sped to the hospital.

Meanwhile, the New Mutants all sighed with relief briefly, before they realized that they were in a sewer.

"Everyone okay?" asked Reese, trying to ignore what he was stepping in. There was almost no light, so he created a purple ball in his hands, generating enough purple glow for visibility.

"No," Haley muttered. "I'm worried about everything. Everything is just going wrong, and you guys know it."

"I alssso know ssssomething," said a voice that sounded mysteriously like a serpent. "You four are not ssssuppossssed to be here."

* * *

><p>Waiting on Lookout Point for any of the others is a very daunting task when you have no sense of patience and you are being hunted by just about everyone.<p>

"No one else is coming," Kris muttered helpfully. "Let's make a plan now."

Storm was inclined to believe him, before someone stepped on a twig behind them.

"Save yourself the trouble," said a familiar voice. "I already have a plan."

Suddenly, the three Brotherhood members (Jade, Archie, and Tristan) appeared from behind the bushes. With them, to their surprise, was a fully recovered Mystique.

Immediately, Ava snapped and thunder boomed overhead. "You blew up our house! You hurt us! And you hurt the professor!" Each word was accentuated by a flicker of pink lightning, but Mystique didn't seem intimidated.

"The professor is under no serious threat," she explained. "He'll be in a coma for a few days, but it's not serious. I needed him out of the way."

"Out of the way?" Alex shouted, energy flowing around his hands.

"Ava, Alex, stop," Rivera suggested. "You're going to give us away. How many times have you seen pin- I mean, amaranth lightning?"

Ava sighed, but didn't visibly calm down. "We should have left your corpse to rot."

Mystique smirked. "Why, Avalon, I enjoy your attitude. I was not planning for your spunk."

"Your parents weren't aware of your father's tainted spunk either, were they?"

Everyone's eyes raised, even Mystique's. No one expected a line like that to come from Ava.

"Tempest, be calm," Ororo said, before looking directly at the blue shape-shifter. "What are you doing here, Raven?"

"I have a plan, and I need your help," she explained. "I want you to know that I was not aware of Magneto's plan to expose _our little secret _to the public. It's a new world out there, and we're going to need new leadership. If nothing else, this public reaction proves that Xavier was wrong. Humans and mutants _cannot_ live together in peace."

"I still don't see where this factors into your plan," Rivera said. "And Xavier wasn't wrong."

"Your blind ignorance and naiveté aside, the plan involves mutual benefits for both parties," explained Mystique. "The military has kidnapped two members of my team. I want them back. The only problem is that I don't know where to start looking."

"Maybe I do," said another voice.

Everyone looked over to see a man dressed in a combat uniform approach. He had stark white hair and a toothpick sticking from the corner of his mouth. The guy exuded command and combat experience just from the way he looked.

"Hmm, did someone put the secret meeting location on Facebook again?" Kris complained, and his sarcasm made Jade smirk.

"You still use Facebook?" asked Jade. "Everyone knows Twitter is better." Kris shot her a look.

"Who are you?" demanded Mystique, wagging a finger in the newcomer's face. "What do you want?"

"I'm Agent Nick Fury, of SHIELD. I've been tracking you for hours," the man said, looking pointedly from the X-Men to the Brotherhood.

"SHIELD's that spy organization, isn't it? The one that fights with HYDRA a lot?" whispered Alex to Ava. The girl nodded back.

Mystique wasn't about to be intimidated. "I strongly suggest that you forget where you found us." At the snap of her finger, her three team members stalked closer to Fury and tried to look intimidating.

Fury made his own snap, unimpressed, and an entire team of gunners appeared and surrounded them, covering every angle of escape. Their guns were pointed at them, loaded and ready.

Another snap and they loosened up, pointing their guns at the sky.

"That's just to prove a point," he said, flicking his toothpick away. "If I'd have wanted you captured, I'd have you captured."

Storm approached him. "Then what do you want with us?"

"To give you this," he said, pulling something from his coat pocket. "It contains maps and schematics of the military base where they are holding your friends. I believe you'll find a good use for them."

Mystique wasn't about to believe it for a second. "And just why are you being so helpful?"

"Let's just say that I've... got my reasons. I can't get involved officially, but I can at least point you in the right direction," Fury explained. "Good luck."

Suddenly, he walked away and the entire group of soldiers followed. Archie checked to see, but it really did appear that they were gone. "Should we believe him?"

"Big time government guy?" asked Grant. "I don't see why he would lie."

"All right then, looks like we're back in business," Storm began. "We'll split up into teams. Ava, you and Kris-"

Suddenly, Mystique snatched the device that Fury had given them. "I'll take that and _I'll _decide how to handle this."

The fury of goddess was in Storm's eyes, glowing white with power. "What gives _you_ the right?" Thunder boomed overhead and lightning flickered.

Tristan nudged Alex. "I can see where Ava gets it," he whispered, amazed. Alex merely nodded in agreement.

"I told you before to back off!" Mystique yelled, getting in the Weather Witch's face.

"Storm, no!" Rivera pleaded. "We'll need their help and you know it!"

Ororo's anger didn't vanish, but the weather seemed to instantly calm. Between her and Ava, it seemed that this area received quite a bit of atmospheric activity.

"Wise counsel," muttered Mystique. "Our first priority is Magneto. We need to know if he really perished under that Sentinel robot. Knowing Magneto, I highly doubt it." She turned to her team. "Archie, I want you to go to New York and find out. Use whatever means necessary."

The boy nodded, suddenly distant. Why, he didn't know. "Fine, but you owe me."

"The rest of us will use Fury's schematics and plan a rescue operation," explained Mystique. "Now, we'll need some transportation."

* * *

><p>They tracked the base where the Velocity was way too easily, located just outside of the city. It was actually really strange, considering that the base had been outfitted during the last few hours.<p>

Alex hadn't been able to sit still during the entire ride there; he'd claimed it was food withdrawals, that his metabolism seemed to need more food like now. They'd stopped at a convenience store and Mystique went in, disguised as a random stranger. Alex couldn't say he was happy with the flavor of chips she bought, but he couldn't be picky at that point.

The base was only feet away, and everyone knew their job: create a distraction large enough to get the helicopter jet and take off.

Storm, as they approached, created a downpour, centered around the base. Immediately, the sentries started to panic, not outfitted with the correct gear to combat the main problems: wetness and low visibility. Ava tried to help, but all she did was make electricity crack across the sky.

Kris had to hand it to the guards: they were dedicated since they didn't exactly run off inside. The next part of the plan was definitely up to Rivera.

The girl concentrated before summoning her duplicates into the helicopter. There was such an intense flash of light in the darkness as they appeared, but they accrued it to lightning. She commanded them from her hiding spot, and they used their mimicry powers well. Soon enough, the engine started.

In the same microsecond the engine started, the loudest thunder boomed across the sky, blanketing out the noise of Velocity taking off.

Smiling, Rivera gave the rest of them the thumbs up as the vehicle left the base undetected, hidden by clouds and rain and darkness.

Minutes later, the team was gathered in the vehicle, ready to go.

"Set the course for one-fifteen west, thirty-six north. Vector zero-one-five," explained Mystique, looking on the PDA.

Kris immediately cried out, "It's a conspiracy! The government has hidden mutants from the public, thinking they were aliens!"

Rivera was confused. "You lost me. You lost us all."

"Seriously, dude, aliens?" asked Alex, rubbing his stomach.

"Definitely not real without more proof," Grant explained.

Kris sighed. "Area Fifty-One. That's where our friends were sent. Why would they bring mutant prisoners to there of all places? It's a conspiracy! Mutants had to have been involved there in the past!"

Jade smirked. "Maybe they were trying to get votes? Send the crazy mutants to the craziest place on earth, appealing to Christian bigots who think we're aliens/monsters/cloned experiments/robots/etc. It makes sense to me."

Kris frowned. "Nope. I refuse to believe that."

"Now you sound like Republicans," she argued. "Rejecting facts and logic."

* * *

><p>Origami arrived at the hospital just before the ambulance, following the team of doctors as they rushed Xavier into the room. She used her image inducer to appear as someone else, making sure to remain hidden since the news footage had definitely caught her earlier.<p>

She pushed past several people, listening to tidbits of their conversation.

"Who is he?"

"No idea."

"I know who he is. He's the head of that Xavier Institute."

The other doctors gasped as they rolled the stretcher into a bed. Origami listened from the doorway, trying to appear inconspicuous. They didn't shut the door, thankfully.

"Seriously? The house of freaks that exploded?"

"Yep."

There was an uncomfortable silence as the doctors seemed to stop everything for a long moment. Origami was confused... why weren't they getting Xavier hooked up to monitors? She was worried, extremely worried.

She'd lied to the kids about his coma, about being okay. He had terrible bruises and a couple of broken bones, probably from the bitch shapeshifter. Those injuries could be much, much worse if untreated, especially with all the drugs he was under. The guy was drugged to use Cerebro; drugs powerful enough to do that had to cause some problems.

The people didn't seem to be moving very fast to help him. One of them was trying to set him up to an IV, but the others were hesitating. She couldn't hear what they were saying now, but she knew enough.

She'd expected enough.

The Japanese scientist barged into the room, approached the emergency team. "Get him hooked up to a machine, now! Just because he's one of those so-called 'freaks,' that doesn't make him inhuman! Seriously, if you don't hook him up to some monitors and assess the damages, I'll have lawsuits so far up each and everyone one of your asses!

Some of them got moving, but one stood strong, stubborn. "I'm not sure that those laws will matter if he isn't human. We'd probably be doing the world a favor to let one of _them_ die."

The words stung like acid. She'd never, ever thought that there could be people like this out there. First Masato, who plainly over-reacted and was probably alone somewhere, captured or scared. Now this...

She regretted it as soon as she did it, but that didn't stop her from slapping the man. In the face, hard. So hard that the man seemed to be more startled than anything else.

"You can expect a call from my lawyers if his condition worsens," the woman said, trying to gain her composure. She walked out of the door proudly and left to find the nearest bathroom.

Once she was in front of a mirror, tears streamed down her face, falling into the sink and rolling down the drain. Sadly, she wished that she could shove all her problems down the drain, but they were out in the open now.

* * *

><p>Archie wished that someone had come with him, to be perfectly honest, but he knew that he could do the job just as easily alone. He just wouldn't have someone to complain to.<p>

To be perfectly honest, he was more worried about his sister. What they could be doing to her. An organization had already taken her once in her life, and she grew up in utter hell. Now, she was taken again, separated from him.

He hit the pair of binoculars against a street lamp, wishing that he'd spent more time with her. Did more to make his relationship with her right. He'd failed, and he knew it.

The van full of cameras was right there. Concentrating, he pulled a little bit of water from a nearby fountain, keeping it low against the sidewalk as to not draw attention to it. Satisfied, he pulled open the news van and yanked the guy out with said water, throwing him against the pavement.

He closed the door quickly behind him, before sitting down at the helm and finding the footage from yesterday. It took several minutes to find the exact shots he'd need, since it was clear that Magneto had not been pulled from underneath the Sentinel rubble. Where had he gone?

There. The explosion. He watched it in regular speed for several moments, but quickly decided it needed to be slower.

Frame by frame, he saw the Sentinel approaching Magneto. Slowly but surely, he realized just how Ol'Buckethead survived.

Someone suddenly appeared out of thin air, someone who looked to be a lot taller than Magneto, with seemingly purple skin. In the next instant, he was gone.

Taking Magneto with him.

Teleporters suck.

* * *

><p>Grant was sitting there, thinking of all the things that had gone wrong since this morning. He was so tired, but there was no time for rest. No time for it.<p>

But not everything had gone wrong. Rivera had become his confidant. Someone he could trust. He really liked her. They'd gone on a few dates, but it hadn't felt real for him until today. Until the flight here. She'd cried on his shoulder over the stress of the situation, and he'd done his best to console her.

He really didn't know what to think about it though, other than the fact that it made him feel very warm inside. With her, his life was more than just research and training sessions. She pushed him out of his shell, and he liked that.

"All right, sensors are off," Mystique said, cackling in their communicators. "Move, now!"

Grant smiled and then quickly stretched up and over the fence, never touching it for a second. Rivera using her clones to boost everyone up, and Ava then used wind currents to push everyone to the other side, although it was decidedly dicey.

"Velocity, just be ready," Mystique added.

Storm scowled. "And you just worry about getting everyone out safely."

* * *

><p>Logan cursed. He couldn't count the times he'd been strapped to a table, but this was one of the worst times in recent memory. Part of what made it worse were the students and Brotherhood members only feet away, and if he didn't do something, he was afraid that there would be hell to pay.<p>

"Who are you?" demanded the general. "Who are you working for?"

"What's it to ya, bub?"

"Who was behind that robot?" the man demanded, finger in Logan's face. "Did you build it? I want answers!"

Wolverine growled again and pushed against his bindings, testosterone levels rising to maximum. His animal rage was the only thing that mattered.

* * *

><p>Taking a deep breath, Ava led the others down a hallway and around a corner. They made no sounds, just signaled to each other when to move and when to stay put.<p>

Kris pointed to the PDA in his hand, and Ava nodded, guiding everyone to the right with a flick of her fingers. Grant and Rivera nodded and followed Kris ahead.

"Sparkplug, the third door on the next corridor," Mystique explained into the communicator. "I'll cut the motion sensors."

Kris confirmed it with the PDA and followed the instruction. Soon enough, the main circuit room was right there.

"Here it is," he muttered, before looking at Rivera. "Echo."

The girl nodded and concentrated. There was a white flash from underneath the door, and suddenly, it opened silently, revealing one of the clones. It disappeared with another flash, ushering them inside.

Kris was about to walk over to the security panel, but Grant stopped him, pointing down.

"Look! The motion sensors are still on, so something must have happened. I got this."

He suddenly outstretched his whole upper body, weaving across the room with wire cutters in his hand. He opened the panel.

"Kris, which wire?"

"The red one."

"Wait, what about the blue one? It's always the blue one."

"It can't be the blue one. The blue one goes to the-"

Rivera sighed. Suddenly, one of her clones was next to Aurum on the other side of the room. It grabbed the wire cutters and cut the green wire without pausing.

Nothing happened, thankfully. It seemed that was the right wire.

"Always trust the woman to do a good job," she muttered, suddenly absorbing her clone. But the cutters were in her hand, and they fell and collapsed against the ground, right in the path of the sensor.

The alarm went off immediately.

"You were saying?" asked Kris, and she rolled her eyes, rubbing the back of her neck nervously.

* * *

><p>With the alarm klaxons blazing, Jade cursed. "Well, stealth could be a problem now."<p>

"Who cares? Let's go!" Ava yelled, Tristan, Alex, and Jade at her heels.

Their path was immediately blocked by soldiers. They clambered up and turned around, only to be blocked again on the other side.

Ava threw up her hands and wind channeled down the hallway, powerful enough to knock several of them out of the way. Tristan, on the other side, tossed several low-level bolts at pressure points, giving enough power to knock them out for a few minutes.

They barreled past, heading to the place where they thought the other captured ones could be. They ran right past a corner, only to literally almost run into Mystique.

"You two hold them off! We'll get the prisoners!" Alex and Jade followed her, leaving Ava and Tristan to clean up the soldiers that could pursue them.

* * *

><p>Logan, in all the chaos, was no longer the center of attention. He smiled when the general looked away, before gesturing to Camille.<p>

The girl uneasily agreed and turned into mud, slipping through the holes in the glass undetected. As soon as she was free, she became solid again and helped Logan pull his hand free.

Her hand dissolved into a semi-liquid state, and she placed it over Logan's wrist. It worked will enough as a lubricant, and suddenly, his arm was free. His claws rushed out so fast that it made the iconic sound of _snikt! _

"Grab them!" someone yelled, but Wolverine was not about to be kidnapped twice. He rushed off the table and ripped it off the ground, tossing it at the direction of the two soldiers.

Turning around, he quickly freed both Astoria and Beast by chopping through the glass. "You free Lily, I'll take care of the Army!"

Astoria smiled as she was freed, that same creepy smile she always had. She aimed flames at the gelatinous slime surrounding Lily, heating it to probably extreme temperatures. It softened in a couple places, enough for Lily to break away, screaming at the pain. Spice knew that Belle would probably be able to heal from it, so she turned her attention to the next task: getting out.

Lily finally recovered and realized then and there that she could really let loose. Her body transformed into a huge she-beast, powerful and strong. She ran towards the nearest exit, claws out. Beast's eyes widened as she did, seeing her under the same animalistic effects he had to deal with.

Beast, however, couldn't spend too much time worrying. Two soldiers came upon him, but he quickly gabbed them and hurled them away, hitting the wall hard in two separate places. Astoria took advantage of the situation and created a ring of fire, so tall and so hot that they would not be able to get out.

Wolverine and Camille were just about finished mopping up the baddies when Mystique, Alex, and Jade ran into the room.

He looked at Alex, confused. "What's she doin' here?"

Alex looked from her to him. "Eh, it's kind of a long story-"

"He'll send you a memo!" shouted Mystique, breaking forward. "Now get out of here! All of you!"

They dashed out of the room and into one of the many corridors. It took them minutes to get to the main hall, near the exit point. Ava had several soldiers around her feet, as did Tristan. The latter boy re-loaded his blasters by running his hand over his arm, re-creating the tattoos that signified how many shots he had left.

"Time to clear out! This way!" Mystique demanded.

Tristan looked back, worried. "More coming from behind!"

The blue-skinned woman shot him a look. "Destroy them."

Tristan hesitated, looking at Ava for a quick moment, before turning to the oncoming group of men. "Wait!" Alex yelled.

Arsenal reared back, his fists clenched, before firing a full-powered blast in their direction.

Dynamo saw it coming and shot his hand up at the last moment, shooting his own green blast of energy, causing an explosion in the middle that shook them all to the core. The two attacks caused the ceiling to collapse just before the soldiers were in the way, blocking their path.

Mystique rushed past, avoiding the others before they could question her order. She rushed towards the door, but a man over the intercom called for all exits to close.

She cursed just as the door shut and the two groups met, before it became obvious they were screwed.

"The exits are sealed!" Ava shouted, suddenly feeling a little claustrophobic.

"Over here!" shouted the voice of Kris.

Everyone turned to see Rivera, Kris, and Grant standing underneath a roof access panel.

It opened very easily and everyone started to climb up. They had no problems getting up, and Ava was the last one before Mystique.

"Storm! We're going to need pick-up service, building five." She was climbing up the ladder as she said it, but as Ava stopped on the roof, she closed the grate behind her, locking Mystique inside. "What are you doing?"

Ava spat into the grate, some of it hitting the shapeshifter's eye. "We shouldn't have saved you." She closed the door behind her, feeling no remorse.

The four present members of the Brotherhood were furious. Lily actually beasted-up, ready to attack. Tristan looked angry, but Ava could tell that he was... semi-supportive. If they were to have a potential to date someday, she hoped that he would support her decision. Alex did.

"What the hell was that for?" Lily yelled.

"Seriously?" Astoria asked, hurt and angered.

"She got what she deserved!" Ava yelled, thunder booming overhead yet again.

"Stop fighting!" Grant yelled suddenly. "This is not the time, nor the place! Leave it for later!"

"Will do," they all agreed, turning away from her.

The Velocity suddenly landed, somehow staying undetected until it touched down. Everyone clambered towards it, some getting on board until another copter approached the rooftop. Storm piloted the vehicle away, leaving Ava trapped.

Tempest shook off the confusion and summoned the wind to her aid, pushing her towards the heli-jet through the air. The girl nearly couldn't handle the air currents, dipping several times as she tried to navigate under the helicopter. She grabbed onto the ramp finally and Beast pulled her inside.

They shot off, but as soon as they steered over the base, several launchers started to aim at them, about to fire. Storm didn't even let them bother her at this point, firing lightning at each one and destroying them instantly.

A fighter jet approached and fired missiles right at them. Kris and Alex fired two blasts and destroyed them on impact, an explosion lighting up the night sky.

* * *

><p>The next day, the Brotherhood of Bayville Boarding House was covered with police, doing a thorough investigation. Archie hoped that they hadn't confiscated his hidden beer, but that was probably the case.<p>

The news that Magneto was still alive had not shaken well with them. The fact that they couldn't even get into their own home was worse. They were still angry about the Mystique fiasco, but Tristan was trying to talk some sense into them.

"C'mon, Ava only did was she thought was best. You guys can't possibly not see that?"

Lily was enraged because Mystique took her in during the time when her father had neglected her to run off with Magneto. Even if it had been part of the plan for her to join the Brotherhood, she still felt like the shapeshifter treated her well.

"That uppity know-it-all X-Geek needs an attitude adjustment," Lily muttered. "That's why I can't see it, Arsenal."

Tristan sighed. It felt like it had taken hours, but finally, Astoria reappeared with clothes for everyone. Food would have to come later, but they could scratch at least one thing off the list of things to do.

* * *

><p>Wolverine looked at what was left of the mansion through binoculars, not believing what had all transpired during his kidnapping by Trask.<p>

Camille sighed. "What do we do now?"

"I don't know, truthfully," Beast answered. "Any word from Origami or the other kids?"

Storm shook her head. "No. No words from anyone really, except for the garbage we keep hearing on the radio broadcasts."

"So we don't know if the professor or any of the others are okay?" asked Alex grimly. "That's crappy."

"I don't know what to do. Our house is gone, Magneto's still out there, and our Professor is still in a coma," muttered Kris cheerfully. "Anyone else got anything to add to the list of woes?"

When no one seemed to want to reply, Ava sighed. "Yeah. The whole world hates us. Literally hates us. The Brotherhood, who I thought were becoming more like allies, hate us again. The public hates us. Our friends at school hate us." She sighed again. "You want to know what comforts me about all of this? Hate goes both ways."

After a moment, no one said anything. Storm came over and hugged her neck, and Ava's tears poured as she hugged her closest mentor.

"The world is a dangerous place now. But treating them with hate is not worth it. If they can't accept us, we'll have to keep fighting until they do. We have to show the world that we are the good guys. That we can be trusted. Maybe they can learn to love us." The African woman looked down to look Ava in the eye. "It's not right to fill your heart with hate, Avalon."

* * *

><p>Keiko couldn't stand the waiting anymore. Couldn't stand it. It was just too much to bear.<p>

She passed through the halls, leaving the waiting room. Almost as soon as she walked into the corridor, her heart plummeted.

The emergency team was sitting outside, grim. One of them, the man whom she had slapped, approached her.

"No. No. It can't... He can't..."

* * *

><p><strong>And Season Three: Begin. <strong>

**I call this "The Chapter Everything REALLY Changes." In other words, the chapter that branches the rest of the fic from canon. Well, for the most part. You probably have already guessed why, but if you haven't, you'll have to wait until next time to find out. Because I'm not answering ANY questions. **

**Next chapter should be here next week. Not sure what day yet, but whatever day I post will be the main day from here on out. (Until life intercedes.)**

**Okay, anyways, here's the next little segment. I'm doing these at the end of every chapter from here on out, so enjoy!**

**Cerebro Files**  
>#013<p>

**Name:** Avalon "Ava" Marie Bronte.

**Codename:** Tempest

**Age:** 17

**Mutant Classification Level:** 3

**Mutant Abilities:** _Atmokinesis._ Her powers are derived from her ability to control the weather. Unlike Storm, her powers are more limited in both variety and power. She mainly relies on lightning and wind.

**Personality Profile:** She's a volatile girl with a tendency to be emotional. She clouds her judgment with her ego at times, but she has much field experience and is willing to carry out orders. Generally, she finds a way to put her own spin on the mission to make it work, but this can sometimes upset other members in her team.

#014

**Name:** Alexander "Alex" Rogers

**Codename:** Dynamo

**Age:** 17

**Mutant Classification Level:** 3

**Mutant Abilities:** _Metabolic Energy Manipulation and Enhanced Regeneration._ His powers allow him to transform the energy that he consumes from food into blasts of light and heat, which he can expel from his palms. This metabolic energy can also be used to heal from injuries more quickly, but they are limited to mostly superficial wounds.

**Personality Profile:** He is level-headed and humorous, often tending to rely on sarcasm or jokes to make others laugh. The death of his parents at the time of his mutation manifestation has left him brittle, and humor allows him to change that hurt into good emotions.


	41. The Stuff of Heroes: The Stuff of Hope

_**The Stuff of Heroes:**_  
><em><strong>The Stuff of Hope<strong>_

The news was horrid today. Absolutely awful. The public finally got the answer to their question: they were called mutants. Not aliens. Not robots. Not weird experiments. Just mutants.

But as they were showing clips of soldiers and policemen searching through the mansion and through the Brotherhood house, Camille got a bad taste in her mouth. There was no way.

They showed pictures of everyone, claiming that most mutants looked normal. They stopped on a picture of Grant's abnormal skin before moving on to her own picture.

"Geez, I look awful," she whispered to Logan, angry that they didn't have a better picture.

The convenience store just outside of the highway was pretty much devoid of people, but no one could be trusted. No one.

"Shh. Pipe down, would ya?" asked Logan, pushing down the brim of his hat. "We're trying to keep a low profile."

Camille nodded, not wanting to tangle with the Wolverine. She sat down one of her snack items, just as the doors opened to reveal two soldiers.

Both of the mutants tensed, and Camille turned around quickly, trying to hide her blond curls.

"You!" one of them exclaimed. "Hold on!"

"Crap!" she said, ducking behind a countertop, just as the soldiers turned their tasers on them.

Wolverine growled as they shot at him, but he managed to get out of the way and run towards them. His claws struck flesh, bringing the man down with a deep cut on his shoulder.

The other man shot at Camille, but the girl turned into her semi-solid state, the taser firing right through her and doing no harm. She rushed forward then, solidified, grabbed his arm, and tossed him over her.

Wolverine then grabbed him and hurled him outside.

"How exactly is this low profile?" she asked.

Logan gestured to the door, where more soldiers were threatening to come in. He then made a quick gesture to the back, and the two of them silently made their way there.

They exited the shop just as the other soldiers entered it. Within moments, they were on the bike and out of there, heading through the backwoods instead of the road.

* * *

><p>"And I say to you that these mutants are concealed weapons of the most dangerous sort, and as such-" Senator Henry Geyrich explained to the Senate floor. The television cameras were eating this up.<p>

Everyone gasped as the door opened to the closed meeting, exposing two strangers. One was a woman of African descent with stark white hair and the other was a little more covered up, but they could tell that he had strange blue fur.

The media followed them, taking time to take pictures and demand interviews. Storm and Beast didn't comment but stood at the podium, ready to address the nation.

"What is the meaning of this? Who are you?"

"We are mutants," Storm confidently answered. "And this witch hunt is going to stop _now._"

* * *

><p>The sewers were dark and dirty, almost a testament for the strange new world the New Mutants found themselves in. They were here, in the underbelly of Bayville, looking at a congregation of mutants that didn't quite have it as well as the others.<p>

There were probably two dozen, most of them young children, and each more... frightening and abnormal than the last. People with horns, people with four arms made of stone, people who looked to be a cross between an insect and a bird.

Grant, Beast and Keiko's appearances were strange. But seeing a whole congregation of people who, quite frankly looked a lot worse, was unsettling.

"You okay?" asked Reese to Jackie, who seemed to be scared. She was sitting on a bench made of some rotting timbers, waiting.

She nodded. "_Oui. _Just a little...freaked out."

Reese looked around nervously as he ate through his slop of canned beans and turnips. "Cut it out. You never know if one of these people has enhanced senses."

She looked around at one who appeared to be looking at him. It was a boy younger than them who clearly had no nose and pale skin with purple markings all across his body. "You're right. Sorry."

Just then, they heard familiar voices approaching. Turning, Reese and Jackie saw Haley, Augustus, and a Morlock girl who looked more like a plant than a human stride into the room. They were laughing at something that was apparently hilarious.

It made sense to Jackie that Haley would make friends with the girl, whose name she thought was Jessie, but she couldn't remember. Their powers were so similar that they clearly had a lot in common. And it was a known fact that Augustus followed Haley around like a puppy dog.

She smirked at the idea.

"What's so funny?" asked Reese, genuinely curious.

"I was just telling Haley about the time when Adrianna got me lost in the city on a food run," explained Jessie, smiling. "We had to dart into and out of a retirement home, and they were playing bingo, just like you'd expect! It was hilarious!"

They laughed again, and Reese was glad that they were having fun. Considering what the world was like, at least something good came out of this.

"YOU!" a female voice suddenly shouted. Her footsteps were so loud that everyone in the group turned to watch.

A woman who appeared to have barbs covering every inch of her thick skin stormed into the room, heading right over to the Institute children. "Prometheus, get these kids out of the tunnels!" She turned to Jacquelyn. "Especially her!"

The leader of the Morlocks, a tall and impossibly large man who looked exactly like the monster described in _Frankenstein,_ stood up from his meal with his wife, Adrianna, who appeared to be some kind of hybrid moth.

"What is it now, Barbara?" the man asked, walking over to her.

The woman flipped her wrist, pointing towards an adjacent tunnel. "I found Lucy lying face-down, tiger marks all over her body! She's dead!"

Jackie's eyes widened as every one of the Morlocks looked up in shock and gasped. "I didn't! I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Show us," Prometheus said, gesturing for the urchin hybrid to guide them.

The Morlocks all followed through the wide tunnel, the Institute children following at the back hesitantly.

"What the heck is going on?" asked Augustus. "Did you do this?"

Jackie's mouth flew open. "You actually think I could have killed someone?"

"Masato tried."

Their hearts raced at the memory, bringing the mood down several notches.

"Yeah, that may be, but I didn't! I swear, it wasn't me!"

They arrived at the sight and several people screamed or gasped. The adults covered their children's eyes.

Sitting in the center of a now forming circle was a girl who could only be partly jellyfish. She was glowing a bright white color, but the blood around her claw wounds was stark red against her transparent body.

"Oh, god," muttered Adrianna, clutching her husband.

Caliban gulped as he saw the scene. He peered at the Institute children, before all the Morlocks suddenly turned on him.

"You let them into our tunnels!"

"It's your fault! Get them out of here!"

Reese looked around as the sewer-dwellers were getting more and more impatient. "How do we calm this down?" he asked his friends.

Jessie turned to him. "I'm... not sure how. I- Lucy was my friend, but I-I don't think you were involved."

"Then who?" asked Reese.

The plant-like girl didn't reply. She turned to Caliban and Prometheus. "I think that it could be... the Marauders."

* * *

><p>The man opened his eyes, before shutting them again. Too much light for even him at first. He shook his head lightly, before his memories caught up to him.<p>

The glass cylinder surrounded him, no doubt bullet proof. The last drops of the stasis fluids were draining from holes in the floor. His arms were completely bound, his legs wrapped together.

He focused on the outside, his vision clearing just a bit more.

Nothing there. No one was around him. Not even here. He smiled that something must have gone wrong with the contraption keeping him locked away.

His hands moved. That was all it took. He moved in slow, small amounts before the chains broke away, unable to resist his momentum. He smirked before reaching down and breaking the chains around his legs.

He fell to the ground hard, denting the floor of the cylinder.

The bulletproof glass was wiped away with a swipe of his hand. He punched the metallic wall, freeing his helmet. The cool, brown material felt amazing on his hands. It felt even better wrapped around his head, protecting him from telepathic contact.

He swept his eyes around the room once more, trying to see if anything or anyone was there. No one.

The alarms hadn't even gone off. No matter for him anyways. He took several steps towards the door and pushed it away from him nearly effortlessly.

Nothing could stop the Juggernaut. Absolutely nothing.

* * *

><p>The cavern where they were hiding was momentarily safe. No one could expect that to last long, but everyone was worried about everything else. Origami had still not contacted anyone, which meant that no one knew about the New Mutants or Xavier's health. They couldn't be sure of anything.<p>

Now, Logan and Camille were taking entirely too long to come back from the food run. The lack of food was making Alex nervous, or at least, more than usual. Ava was trying to watch Storm and Beast on the little miniature television she had taken from Velocity, but reception was very, very difficult. Grant was too busy writing something down, and Rivera was sitting next to him; every few seconds, they'd look at each other and blush. It was almost too cute. Kris was busy pacing back and forth, worrying about everyone and everything.

"God, I can't stop freaking out."

"Sit down and relax," Ava suggested in a soothing tone, but her face wasn't too convincing. She was obviously still regretting what she had done, but other worries were sitting on top of those. "Or at least try."

"I can't," he muttered. "Wolverine's gone. We're basically sitting ducks out here. What if they tracked us?"

Alex looked up, holding his stomach. "They didn't track us. Wolverine would have made sure of that."

"And we're not totally useless," Rivera explained from Grant's shoulder. "You know that."

"But any act of violence, whether with self-defense or not, would be seen as starting some kind of war!" Kris exclaimed. "It's too bad right now. Magneto opened up the floodgate of mutant oppression. I can just feel it."

"We're all worried, dude," Alex started, "but you're making things worse by doing all of that pacing."

Ava sighed. "Look, Kris, if I can get this to work, we'll be able to see the hearings. I already know what they're going to say, but maybe Storm and Beast can have a good effect? Can you name anyone better than them?"

"Professor Xavier," the other four said at once, without even pausing to think.

"Okay, point taken. But the professor's not there," explained Ava. "The only way that I can see anything good happening is if the professor could do a mind-wipe on the whole world. But the last time he attempted something like that, he nearly died. Even with Cerebro, it wouldn't make a difference."

"She's right, but if anyone can make a good impression, it would be him," explained Kris. "Storm and Beast just... aren't the same kind of hope. If anything, Beast is just freaking everyone out."

They had to admit that the two of them had a point. The world was very, very different. And very, very aggressive.

"Nothing like this has ever come up for humanity. This is worse than the Civil Rights Movement," explained Grant. "Worse than the Women's Rights Movement. Worse than Marriage Equality. The difference is that mutants... Well, we all know that we were born this way, just like blacks, gays, women- no offense. It's a genetic imprint, completely random. The difference between this and those events are our powers... People will see us as weapons, and admittedly, people like Magneto _are_ weapons. It's almost like gun control."

"What are you saying, Grant?" asked Ava.

"I'm saying that the movement that will soon come up, the Mutants' Rights Movement, will be hampered by the fact that people like Alex can kill someone by pointing at them. People like you could start natural disasters, Ava. Kris, if you went out of control and sparked yourself again, you could potentially absorb so much energy that you could explode, taking out a city or more. There's too much at stake here, too much riding on what we can do as X-Men. We have to show the world that we're no different from anyone else, but even that may not be enough," he explained. "I've thought about this a lot, you guys. My skin... it's gold. I can hide behind my inducer all I want to. Heck, Xavier and I could make all of you one, and you'd be able to live normal lives again with new faces. But what's the point of hiding?"

Grant took a deep breath and pressed a button on his inducer, shutting it off. He then took the watch and threw it out of the cavern entrance. Everyone watched him, rapt.

"It's hiding, and it's wrong. It's lying," explained Grant. "We have to be honest. We have to set good examples for others out there like us."

He sat down next to Rivera again, taking her hand. She smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

"You're brave to do that," she said.

"Yeah, you really are," Ava said. "But the world is not... it's not that black and white. It won't just go away." She suddenly didn't seem interested in fixing the TV anymore, not wanting to see the prejudice.

"You're right," Grant replied. "It's going to take some time. Probably not even in our lifetimes. But that doesn't mean we can't see this as a chance to prove that we are good people."

Alex nodded, rising up from his place by the cave entrance. "He's right, you guys. We shouldn't be afraid. Don't let the stress get to you. We should be ready at a moment's notice to figure out what's got to be done."

Suddenly, someone's phone rang, playing "Baby" by Justin Beiber.

"Oh, God, turn it off!" Kris yelled, covering his ears tightly.

Alex suddenly reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone. The others gave him funny looks, but he shrugged. "He plays good music."

He looked at it. "Oh, it's Origami. Hello?" After a few seconds, he gulped. "What? That's... not possible!" Tears gathered at the corner of his eyes as his fists clenched together. "Where is he...? Wha-" He paused, and by now, everyone wanted to know what was going on. "...Okay... I'll t-try. Um, we'll... see you soon. Bye."

"What's going on!"

He gulped. "Xavier... he's-"

The sound of a motorcycle suddenly cut them off, and Wolverine and Camille shot into the room, throwing Camille off and onto the ground, which she immediately "splashed" into mud.

"Crap," she said as she reformed herself, thankfully able to re-gain her uniform when she did so.

"What happened?" asked Ava, suddenly turned away from Alex for the moment. The blond-haired boy kept his mouth shut for the time being, knowing that Logan needed to explain himself first. Maybe Logan knew about Xavier, because Alex honestly didn't think he could say it out loud.

"Military choppers," explained Wolverine, getting off of his bike and helmet.

"Get ready, because they're right behind us!"

As if on cue, the wind from the choppers blasted into the mouth of the cave, forcing everyone to brace themselves.

The two helicopters came closer and shined their spotlights on them, before their weapon systems engaged. Missile launchers aimed downward and armed.

"Looks like we got a fight on our hands," muttered Wolverine, his claws shooting out.

"No," said Ava, turning around. "Grant and Kris are both right; we can't be the aggressors."

"Attention, mutants! This will be your only warning!" a soldier on the loudspeaker declared down to them. "Surrender peacefully, or we will take action!"

Wolverine pointed ahead. "You hear that? They're gettin' ready to attack!"

Ava pointed to the sky, her eyes flashing amaranth. Clouds appeared, spreading in the sky above the cave. Immediately, rain began to fall, although it wasn't thick or very heavy. But it was enough.

"Mudslide, defensive line!"

Camille nodded, concentrating on the mud. Immediately, it began to rise, and as the rain continued to fall, it made the situation better for the French mutant. Before long, there was a seven-foot wall of soft earth, but enough.

"Aurum, get ready to reinforce it!" Ava commanded.

The boy nodded, his hands splayed to create a wall with his limbs. They weren't exactly healed from the last time he used them as a shield, but it would do.

Missiles impacted the barrier, blowing it apart. Grant threw up his golden arms and deflected any of the shrapnel, and Ava and Camille continued to create more mud and make the wall thicker.

Logan put his hand on Ava's shoulder. "Listen, kid."

She shook her head. "No. We're the X-Men. We're not kids anymore. You trained us, and you know what? We're good."

More missiles were fired, but both Alex and Ava made moves. Amaranth and emerald mixed in mid-air, destroying the projectiles.

"We're really good," finished Alex, even though the weight of his grief was still on his mind.

"Let me get this straight." asked Logan, getting in the two eldest students' faces. "You're defying me?"

"It would be like child's play to take em out," explained Alex. "For any of us."

"We're not the bad guys here," said Ava.

"If they're after us, then _they're_ the enemy!"

"That's the thing, Logan," said Kris. "They think we are."

"We can't be offensive," Rivera said. "It's too risky."

"Well, then what else are you going to do? Run?"

Ava looked at the others. "Yeah. If the professor were here, that's what he'd have us do."

Alex looked at her, his heart plummeting at her statement.

"You guys want to take charge, then you're on your own!" Within seconds, Logan was riding off of the embankment and into the forest.

The X-Men moved without pausing for thought. One group of choppers readied a blast and fired a group of rockets at both Kris and Ava. Kris, using borrowed electricity, shot an arcing blast of orange lightning in their direction, blowing up the first wave.

Ava's own blast met another wave, but one slipped through. Without warning, it seemed to explode in mid-air. They looked up to see Camille, smiling.

"Sometimes, I forget I can control the oil in stuff."

Ava took charge again, blowing a huge updraft into the group of choppers, carrying the pepper-gas higher and higher. Several of the choppers had to rise.

As Rivera rushed to pilot the Velocity, she noticed one of them was readying a different type of missile, aiming at the heli-jet. Within seconds, a white flash of light produced the two clones.

They waved at the soldier before pressing several precise buttons, shutting down the weapons systems and shorting them out. As soon as that was done, they saluted to him and disappeared again, just as Rivera and Grant entered Velocity.

Velocity started up and they all piled on board. Rivera shot up into the sky, and Ava quickly summoned a high enough downdraft that even they couldn't fly out of it. Alex aimed high and hit the rotors, breaking them off at the halfway point.

Ava, using her powers to the utmost extent, very quickly met the falling helicopters with an updraft, enough to slow down their fall. They landed carefully, unable to pursue.

Rivera sped the Velocity off.

"Well, that went well," Kris muttered. "Sort of."

Alex continued to keep quiet. Too much riding here.

* * *

><p>The New Mutants had no clue what a Marauder is, and not one of the Morlocks seemed ready to explain it. Not even Jessie. Prometheus sent several of the adult Morlocks to block off all the exits to the tunnels in hopes that they could hold the assassin inside.<p>

"We'll help!" Reese volunteered.

Prometheus shook his head. "No, I can't allow that. You don't know who these men are. How ruthless they can be."

"Because you won't tell us!" Jackie exclaimed. "How can I prove that I'm innocent if you won't tell me why this could be a Marauder. Are they mutants?"

Prometheus looked like he wouldn't answer, but Augustus stepped up before he could.

"We've been trained to handle mutants," he explained. "We're from the Xavier Institute. The man who runs it has trained us how to handle situations like this. I assume these Marauders are mutants?"

Finally, the leader nodded. "Yes. They are mutants. Caliban senses that there are two of them here, but due to the stress of you four showing up, he couldn't decipher their signatures." He shook his head in annoyance. "The Marauders work for someone in our past. They are basically a group of mutant DNA collectors; they nearly exterminated us three years ago. There was a mutant in their ranks named Hairbag, and he was very animalistic. It's possible that he killed Lucy, and Caliban believes him to be here."

Jacquelyn nodded. "Well, then it's obvious I'm innocent, isn't it?"

Reese elbowed her. "Not helping, Jackie. We'll help you out, if you can think of a way for us to do so."

After a long moment, Prometheus nodded. "Yes. Can you head to the North Tunnel? It's not far from here, but it's where Adrianna is."

"You want us to protect her, don't you?" asked Haley.

The man nodded after a solemn moment. "Please. Help them out. The other entrances are not as undefended, but I fear that Adrianna and Jessie will not be able to protect that one alone."

The four New Mutants nodded. "Of course we'll do it," answered Reese.

* * *

><p>Alex finally looked up. He decided then and there that this was the time. Everyone was quiet. Everyone was just waiting to see what was next.<p>

But then he saw their faces. Grant and Rivera, although dealing with stress, seemed legitimately happy. Kris was sitting there, fooling with a Rubik's cube he'd found in Velocity. Camille was taking a nap, tired from the entire last couple of days. And Ava... Ava was just as beautiful as the day he'd first met her. Confident and proud, he couldn't do it.

"Hey, Alex," Kris suddenly said. "You never finished what Origami said."

They all seemed to want to be optimistic, all except for Ava. The girl frowned, stealing a glance at Alex: she already knew. She'd guessed it, and she gave Alex and tiny smile.

"Guys," she muttered, voice already breaking. "Alex can't say this, but I'm afraid to say it myself, so just... keep that in mind. But, Origami called to say that... Xavier died."

Almost as soon as she said it, her entire body went into spasms of tears. It became real the moment that she said it, so real that a weak rain-cloud poured over the helicopter.

There were outcries. There were tears. There was much, much grief. Only through sheer will was Rivera able to keep flying the chopper, but her hand was gripping Grant's gold fingers so hard that her knuckles were white.

"Why? What happened?" asked Kris, his hands in total fists.

"The doctors tried to save him, but he had a hemorrhage in his brain. There was nothing that they could do," Alex muttered. "I'm sorry that I didn't say anything before."

"It's...o-okay," Camille said through sobs. "I know I couldn't."

"It was the drugs, wasn't it?" asked Kris, his anger building. "The drugs that Mystique used?"

Grant nodded, his arm wrapped around Rivera's shoulders. "That's probably true. If anything, the kind of mind-control drugs she had to use on him to get him to use Cerebro would have backfired. It probably wasn't good that he was a telepath either; maybe they couldn't mix?"

"It doesn't matter," said Ava suddenly. "It doesn't matter either way. He's dead and he's not coming back." She didn't say anything for a good long moment, before looking at Alex. "I'm suddenly more glad that I left Mystique to rot in that base."

They sat in silence for a long time, some of them crying. Some were trying to calm down by breathing very, very hard.

It didn't seem real. It didn't seem real to any of them. Xavier was a teacher.

A friend.

A father.

And now, he was gone.

Suddenly, Grant began to fiddle with the television screen on the front console from what would be the passenger side of Velocity if it were a car. After a few seconds, he was able to bring up the broadcast of the Senate hearings.

"Turn it off," said Ava. "I don't want to watch it."

"I do," he countered. "It's important."

* * *

><p>"Look at the evidence! The wake of destruction... You are to blame!"<p>

Beast placed a calming hand on Storm's shoulder. "We are people, Mr. Chairman, not monsters. Regardless of what we can do or what we may look like."

"You are atrocities!" the chairman yelled.

That got the crowd talking loudly, squandering any response Storm or Beast could make. Storm's phone beeped yet again, but she chose not to answer the text, fearful that she'd be making a bad impression here.

"Let's see it," said the chairman, pointing to the screen.

Suddenly, a video of Cain Marko appeared. He was lifting a tank, throwing it down below. He was wreaking havoc on the area. The tank struck a power pole and suddenly caused the entire city below to go out of power.

"Not monsters, Mr. McCoy? Tell that to the sixty-three thousand innocent people living in the valley below that dam!"

* * *

><p>"Juggernaut!" Rivera exclaimed, her tears drying up slowly. "He's loose!"<p>

Another ping of pain erupted in their minds. "The professor... he's not here," added Alex.

Kris shuddered. "That's not good. He's basically invulnerable without... the Professor."

"What do we do?" asked Alex.

Rivera suddenly turned the helicopter in another direction. "We're going to stop him."

None of them could argue with that at this point, but they still had their doubts. "It's being covered by the news," muttered Kris. "Won't it be just like the Sentinel?"

"Doesn't matter," said Rivera confidently, wiping her eyes. "We're going down there to help. That's what X-Men do. That's what the Professor would want."

* * *

><p>Haley smiled as she saw the Northern Tunnel up ahead. She turned the corner with the others and saw Jessie and Adrianna tending to the horticulture gardens. Jessie had such a natural gift for caring for plants, even if she had no actual control over them like Haley did. Her powers were limited to manipulating the flora of her own body. Adrianna could produce a chemical from the tips of her wings that could promote plant growth, so it was definitely cool to see them next to the plants, guarding the tunnel.<p>

The two Morlocks saw them approach. "Hello," greeted Adrianna.

Haley waved. "Hey. We're here to help you guard this place."

Jessie smiled. "I'm glad you're here. I was thinking that we'd need back-up if one of those... bastards tried to come here."

They spent a few minutes waiting, but soon after, something happened. They heard something approaching, a growl of sorts. Jackie was the first to hear it and the first to react, transforming completely into her tiger form and roaring back.

Without warning, two people burst into the tunnel, trying to get to the sewer main and out of the Morlock area. Although people may have been a strong word for one of them: he looked like a dangerous cross between some kind of... bigfoot creature. It was covered in fur on every part of his body, and he no long even stood humanly. He was on all fours like a dog, his face skewed and beast-like. More so than even Mr. McCoy.

Hairbag.

The other Marauder was a tall man with long brown hair. He had a goatee, but was wearing an armor like uniform. It made the four New Mutants very aware of the fact that they were dressed in civilian clothing, and even that was tattered from the explosion at the Institute.

Hairbag attacked without warning, but Tigress intercepted, claws first. She proved to be slightly stronger than Hairbag, shoving him into the wall.

The other guy didn't respond, held out his hands. Several objects that could only be described as energy harpoons, colored pink, appeared out of thin air. He then flicked his wrist and hurled them at the group of mutants blocking their path.

Spartan smiled, before creating purple energy sandbags, like a military bunker. The other five mutants, Tigress excluded, jumped behind them just as some of the harpoons struck the energy and were dispersed.

"An interesting power," the man said. "Very interesting."

Augustus jumped up and spun his arms around in circles, generating two horizontal cyclones. They curled through the air at the feral mutant and the energy mutant, but the Marauders were able to dodge them, since Spindle didn't exactly have control over them once he created them.

More harpoons appeared and were fired like arrows, volleying downward around the sandbag barracades. Haley gestured to the horticulture vines, boosted by both Jessie and Adrianna's natural fertilizers. They formed a network-like shield above them, creating a barrier for the harpoons in nearly a second.

Hairbag quickly threw Tigress off of him, and Harpoon took the moment to aim at her. Spartan noticed it and his eyes widened.

"No!" he rushed forward, creating a circular shield out of his signature purple energy. He arrived just in time, blocking the harpoon.

Jackie nodded at him before rushing at Hairbag again, throwing him down the hall before pouncing on him. She tore through his body with her jaws, letting her animal take over for a second.

More harpoons tried to intercept her, but when Reese lunged at the Marauder with a sword in hand, the harpoons vanished.

"You have skills," he muttered at the young mutant, creating another harpoon but holding it in his hands.

"Can't you do something more than those stupid things?" he asked, making a horizontal slash through the air.

The Marauder quickly turned his weapon in the sword's direction, blocking the strike, before spinning up and hitting Reese in the shin. "You'll find it very effective."

Haley, meanwhile, sent vines in Hairbag's direction. Jackie was still on him, being rather relentless in her struggle, but every wound she made was rejected by the Marauder's healing factor.

"Does every animalistic mutant have to have a healing factor?" asked Haley as her vines made contact.

Very, very quickly, the vines wrapped around Hairbag's body, slowly but surely rendering him immobile.

The other Marauder was surprised and tried to send harpoons to help, but he was blocked by Aug and Reese. Seeing the situation going grim, he frowned.

"Fine. I give," he muttered, raising up his hands. There was a gleam in his eye though, one that none of them expected after he gave up. Reese seemed to loosen up as soon as he thought the situation was over, and Jackie transformed back into her human form, not expecting the feral mutant to undo the flora surrounding him.

"Yeah, I'm sure you do," muttered Jessie, holding out her arms. The flower pods decorating her body opened up and something was secreted, something nearly invisible. The sleep-inducing toxin suddenly made its effect known, hitting the Marauders and not the New Mutants. Soon enough, both were sedated and nearly asleep.

"You got them?" asked a voice all of a sudden. They turned to see Barbara, Caliban, Wraith, and Prometheus approach. Barbara was the one most surprised.

Haley finished wrapping the energy-harpoon Marauder with vines, knowing that he would be definitely subdued now.

"Yeah," Reese said, trying to hold his shin would to stop the blood from flowing. It wasn't serious, but he wanted to stop the bleeding.

"I'm impressed," Prometheus said finally, smiling. "You must be well-trained."

"If you only knew the half of it," muttered Jackie, thinking of Logan and his insane exercises.

"Come now, let's take care of the prisoners," said Prometheus.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to keep them locked up?" asked Adrianna, her hand on Adam's neck. "Isn't that just begging for more Marauders to show up?"

Prometheus wasn't sure what to do except to lock them up down here. Maybe they could reach a deal with their leader if he was willing to make a deal. He would explain that to her later.

Right now, it was time to celebrate with their new friends.

* * *

><p>Juggernaut was still wreaking havoc by the time the X-Men arrived. That was apparently all that Cain ever wanted to do: break things.<p>

He grabbed the tail end of an Army helicopter and was about to hurl it at another when a green blast of energy intercepted it mid-air, knocking it to the ground.

Juggernaut twirled around to see the six X-Men on a rock formation, Velocity sitting on top. Everyone was in a battle stance, waiting for any kind of sudden move.

"Any of you want to spontaneously learn telepathy?" asked Alex, trying to make a joke. It didn't turn out to be too funny. "Never mind."

"Same tactic won't work this time," muttered Ava. "Just try to overpower him!"

All of them moved at once, as a team. Rivera summoned her clones on top of his shoulders, trying to open the helmet. Even though it wouldn't work on him, maybe they could make him think that's what they were trying to do.

He stumbled around, attempting to throw them off. Ava's wind currents blasted him, bringing him up several feet in the air, but it was too much for even her. Alex and Kris, however, took the advantage to shoot orange and green blasts of energy at him, one after another, causing him to spin through the air and fall backwards.

Camille braced herself and Juggernaut ran right into her, but she "splashed" through it, becoming a literal mudslide. Juggernaut nearly slid right off the side, but he managed to grab hold of the ledge at the last moment.

As he tried to pull himself up, Alex suddenly blast him again with green energy, throwing him backwards and into a huge group of turbines, which exploded as soon as he hit them.

Soon enough, however, Juggernaut recovered and ran right at them, not thinking straight. Due to the poor visibility in the helmet, he didn't see a certain malleable mutant laying flat on the surface of the concrete. As soon as he stepped on Aurum's body, the boy formed up and wrapped himself tightly around Juggernaut's legs and torso, somehow tripping the unstoppable mutant to the ground.

Grant continued his slithering snake approach, so flat that it was like he was a piece of paper or tin foil. However, it was not enough to bind him.

Rivera's clones arrived just in time to take off two more of the straps, leaving him one strap away. Ava floated towards him, grabbed Kris with her wind currents, and then hurled the boy at the bound Juggernaut.

Performing a somersault in the air, Kris grabbed the last latch just as Juggernaut freed himself. Grant popped back like a rubber band, unable to move. Juggernaut grabbed Kris by the middle, so shockingly, that Kris's sparking activated.

Grant, even though he was subdued, suddenly had an idea. "Ava, shock them both! Quickly!"

Ava, knowing Juggernaut wouldn't be harmed, shot a high-powered bolt of electricity at Kris and Juggernaut.

The lightning passed through Sparkplug painlessly, but Juggernaut screeched. Without realizing it, Kris shocked himself, just like in the experimental device weeks ago.

Everyone watched as the kinetic energy of the gripping Juggernaut was absorbed and magnified by Kris. The pure tension in his arms was a force, a force that Sparkplug made his own. Within seconds, the muscular motion of Juggernaut was absorbed by Kris, and the boy was surrounded by an orange aura.

In theory, Grant assumed that Kris was now twice as unstoppable as Juggernaut; he was surprised they didn't create some kind of paradox that destroyed the universe.

Kris grabbed onto the man's arm and twisted, causing Cain to go flying in that direction. As Kris hit the ground, the kinetic energy of the fall went into him too, making him stronger. It was hard to follow, but when Kris supercharged himself, he absorbed all types of energy, even potential.

Kris rushed forward, each step and each of his own movements making him stronger. He leapt through the air and came down on Juggernaut, immediately crushing another few feet of the dam, water pouring everywhere. Everyone watched as Kris pummeled Juggernaut with the force of the moving water boosting him yet again.

"Oh, god, there's no end to it, is there?" asked Alex. "When he gets like this, there's no stopping him. Nothing affects him. He's unstoppable in his own way."

Grant shook his head. "Not this time. It'll only work while he's got an adrenaline rush. The situation of him getting crushed, the emission of the sparks, and the lightning bolt jumpstarted himself. But it wasn't like the machine I made for him so long ago. Not permanent."

Ava, seeing an opportunity now that that was settled, immediately shot a lightning bolt through the air, hitting the rushing water of the dam while Kris and Cain were partly submerged.

Juggernaut screamed and suddenly lost his grip, falling into the water below. To speed up the process, Alex shot another high-powered blast at him, making him hit the water below at close-to-terminal velocity.

Kris stood up from the water and walked across the deck. He was loving the energy flowing through him. He felt like a conduit. A centerpiece for all energy in the universe. He could do anything.

And yet, as they realized Juggernaut wasn't going to come back up from the water, he felt some of that draining away. His mind began to clear after a few moments, and the orange aura slowly faded.

Grant pointed to the sky. "Discharge it."

Kris nodded, knowing now what had happened. Within moments, he raised his fist and fired off a huge orange blast, straight into the night sky. The dam trembled under the force of it, but it seemed that the supercharge was over.

"Is it finished?" asked Rivera, pointing down. "Is he coming back?"

Ava shook his head. "I don't think so. The beating he got was not exactly good for him. Honestly, Kris, I think you could have stopped the unstoppable all by yourself."

The water was still rushing out of the dam in two places, and it seemed that they had no real way of closing it. Ava still had to try, however; she hovered out to the middle of the two holes and concentrated.

Arctic winds immediately came into the area. This was a basically new experience for her, since she wasn't used to calling forth frigid temperatures. Soon enough, however, the sub-zero wind blasting the water was having an effect, and the water flowing into the dam was freezing into huge tube-like sheets of ice. She used more wind to push the water up until there were two frozen mounds of ice high-enough to block off any more water from trying to join it.

Immediately she felt light-headed. Woozy. She only barely made it back to solid ground before she felt like she was going to faint. Alex caught her just before she could, and immediately started to carry her back to Velocity.

* * *

><p>"What did they just do?" asked the chairman, rubbing the back of his neck nervously as the news footage cut out. The Senate floor was once again very loud, but not from prejudice. It seemed that they were finally praising them.<p>

"What they were trained to do," explained Storm. "Use their powers for good."

* * *

><p>Soon enough, military helicopters were swarming the place, but this time, it was for good. They weren't trying to capture the X-Men this time.<p>

"Looks like he got away," said Camille. "Should we go after him?"

Ava shook her head, a cloth over her head. "We're done here."

* * *

><p>The New Mutants were retrieved by Origami, who bared the bad news to them. They met with the senior students and faculty members at the site of the explosion, the site of the former mansion.<p>

There was only sorrow, but varying degrees of it. Some could look past it, while others were just simply hurt by the very notion that Xavier was dead. The Senate, upon hearing of the death, arranged for a proper casket and Xavier was placed within it. They contacted as many people as they could.

The casket laid in state for a day before the funeral was held. Parents joined their children, friends joined friends, and even the Brotherhood was there.

"Charles Xavier was one of the greatest men that anyone will ever have the pleasure of knowing," began Ororo. "He was my first teacher, and without him, I would have been nothing. He has been my oldest friend, and more of a father figure to me than my own flesh and blood.

"I'm certain that there are many students who feel the same way. Xavier had a presence in this Institute, a presence that invoked a confidence in the students. Knowing that Xavier was here gave me a sense of innocence, but now that he has passed, it seems that I am forced to face that maturity that he has instilled within me. Which is why I will be taking his place as headmistress of the Institute. I assure you that your students will be safe under my guidance.

"Charles Xavier was a beacon of hope. Until he dying day, he believed that the world, if changed, could still exist in harmony. He believed that the hatred we see now, we hear about now, would not exist. Despite this, Xavier would not let it get to him. He was a strange combination between a fighter and an idealist. He would fight for his ideals and he would stand up for our peace here on this earth.

"I assure you that the foundation of this school will not change. In Charles' memory, we will rebuild and continue to be a safe place of mutants. A safe place to grow and to change. A safe place to harbor success." She paused. "Charles, I know that you are watching over us. Continue to help guide us on our path as you always have."

Nearly everyone was crying. Logan, Hank, Alex, Kris, and Grant lifted the casket from the stand behind it. They carried it to the grave site, a cozy nook on the grounds in a patch of trees, one of Xavier's favorite places to go. They lowered it carefully into the grave, and as soon as it was finished, everyone paid their last respects to a man who truly deserved it.

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah. Kind of a sad note to end things on. I hope the funeral scene was written well, but if it wasn't, please, let me know. I tried my best to draw from my own experiences dealing with grief to write this chapter, so if some of it doesn't really work, don't be afraid to tell me. <strong>

**Anyway, moving away from the grief, there's two questions that this chapter brings up. **

**1) Who (or what) set Juggernaut free? **

**2) Who are the Marauders? (Comic book fans probably know them.) They won't be appearing often, but it's a nice little side-story from the main plot. **

**Please, review!**

**Cerebro Files****  
><strong>#15

**Name: **Astoria Urving

**Codename: **Spice

**Age:** 16

**Mutant Classification Level: **3

**Powers:** _Pyrokinesis._ She can create and control flames that are always colored blue. She can bend the flames to her will to produce many effects.

**Personality Profile:** She is a slightly mentally altered child who seems to have a flare for her outfits and her look. She's Gothic in both mind and attitude, but she has manic and depressive moments. She's never been on medication for it, but her sheer ability to always smile and act like nothing bothers her is a key way to avoid stress.

#16

**Name**: Kai "Kris" Tanaka

**Codename:** Sparkplug

**Age:** 15

**Mutant Classification Level:** 4

**Powers**:_ Power Amplification, Energy Absorption and Redirection_. He can absorb potentially any type of energy and redirect it in the form of energy blasts or pure force. He can amplify the powers of other mutants to produce some strange effects, and these effects can prove dangerous for the person amplified.

**Personality Profile:** He is a somewhat sarcastic teenager who can be lazy at times, and sometimes questions his authority figures. He does well in battle, but he's restricted to a support type role due to his powers. He tends to fear the amplification power because of its random effects on those who are amplified, since the first time he did it, he blew up the Danger Room.


	42. Mainstream: Return to Normality

_**Mainstream:  
>Return to Normality<strong>_

Alex smiled as he picked through the refrigerator, thankful that he was even able to use a refrigerator again. After the few days hiding in the wilderness, this tiny bit of regularity was good. Especially since nothing was regular at the Xavier Institute without Xavier.

Quickly, he pulled out a carton of milk, a few slices of cheese, and mustard. Walking over to the small closet-turned-pantry, he pulled out a loaf of bread. He smiled again as he sat on the table, making himself a triple-stacked, mustard-and-cheese sandwich.

The kitchen was almost always empty at this time of night. With Alex's powers constantly readjusting his metabolism, his body didn't need sleep, so he just... didn't. He remembered times when he had slept, such as when he was influenced by Dean's powers, but that was so, so long ago.

Too long ago, actually. He missed the girl, and her joining the dark-side scared him. She was so inherently powerful that she could literally control ANY part of your biology. It was scary to think that one of his closest friends was out there with the likes of Debris, Enzo, and Creator. And that creepy little Chess girl. Why they were working for Mesmero, he had no clue, but Xavier had suggested that they could be under some kind of mental influence.

_Xavier... _

He sighed as the wounds came running back to him. They always did. This school couldn't exist without him, and although Storm was awesome, her personality was quite different from him. Alex didn't quite like her new strictness, and it was harder to open up to her during counseling sessions because she didn't have the mutant ability to open you up herself.

It was a whole new ball game with her in charge. Everyone was taking it differently, but I think the younger students were more affected by the transition than the older ones. The younger students were a little more dependent than Ava's squad, in Alex's opinion, but it was very, very different either way.

There were a lot of tears. It had been almost a month since his passing, but people still weren't quite on the same page with their grief. Not that it was a problem, but it worried Alex that Rivera seemed to go into states of quiet. She sometimes just stopped talking and clammed up, and only Grant could snap her out of it. Rivera claimed nothing was wrong, that nothing was going wrong in that head of hers, but only Xavier would really be able to tell. She wasn't opening up to anyone as far as Alex could tell, not even her boyfriend.

Both Kris and Ava were angry, but they both expressed it in different ways. Kris was physically angry and focused on sparring with Logan and in the Danger Room sessions, which were slightly less frequent given the circumstances. Seeing him beat up on training dummies and dodge lasers so forcefully, so aggressively frightened Alex; it made him think that Kris was going to do something stupid one day on a mission or in a fight and get hurt.

Ava, however, was more emotionally angry. She was constantly trying to breathe calmly and almost seemed to be forcing herself not to be happy. Tristan came around every once in a while, which bothered Alex for some reason, but even he couldn't calm her down for more than a temporary amount of time. The weather had not been good around the Institute, that was for sure.

Camille had been trying to console the younger kids to the best of her ability, and it seemed to be working, to a certain degree. Reese and Augustus were taking it the hardest, because it meant that they might never find their real families due to their memory problems. Jacquelyn turned to Beast and Origami to feel better, and Haley seemed to be trying to take everything in stride on her own. Masato still had not reappeared, but they didn't give up on him.

Alex was trying to be level-headed. He was trying to make everyone else happy with humor and not letting things bother him. He'd written several songs during his time alone at night, and when the students had free time, he'd been trying to lighten the mood with his voice and his guitar. He knew he wasn't the best singer, but at least he was trying. Some enjoyed it, others didn't.

Behind closed doors, however, his walls broke down. He no longer cares if anyone is watching, and he just sits there and sulks. His memories of Xavier are too many, the professor's effect on his life too great, to just be normal again.

Suddenly, he looked up to see something flashing across the security readouts. If this were the normal mansion, there'd be warning if someone was intruding for minutes. Sadly, they were down to a few security cameras and a few alarms much closer to the construction site above him.

Taking the initiative, he grabbed his sandwich and took several large bites, forcing them down and drinking a quick half-glass of milk. There were several figures approaching the mansion, and he figured that he could take care of it himself. He forced his thoughts about how alone he felt and left to deal with the problem on his own.

The construction on the mansion was only just beginning, but there were already several support beams in place and the basic frame was built. Ororo had received Xavier's entire inheritance and was putting it to good use, in the same ways the man himself had always done: improving the school.

Alex came up inside the gazebo on the lawn, undamaged by the blast. Remembering everything Logan had ever taught him about stealth, he stayed behind the intruders, whose shadows looked very gruesome at this point.

The young mutant finally caught up to them, and the three figures seemed to be laughing and cutting up. Kind of weird for a potential enemy, but he figured that it must take all kinds to make a thing go right, huh?

He saw them from about thirty yards away, but the fog and mist was thick tonight. It made him wonder if Storm was up all night again, worrying and manifesting her worries in the weather, much like Ava. He couldn't make any details about their appearances, but he knew it wasn't good.

Finally, he decided to confront them. "Hey!" Without warning, his hands began to glow with green energy, providing enough light to see that they were like hideous monsters!

He should have controlled himself, but his shock sent a weak blast in their direction. It exploded at their feet, kicking up dirt and rocks onto their legs, but otherwise leaving them unharmed.

"He shot at us!" one of them yelled, surprise and shock in his voice. "Get him!"

The world seemed to go in slow motion as the one with the hideous green face pulled out a shotgun. Before he could do anything to defend was pulled.

_BANG!_

After a short moment of assuming that he wasn't dead or dying, he opened his eyes from flinching to see the monster thrown on the ground, the shotgun in two clean-cut pieces, a big chunk blown out of the ground. A very angry Wolverine, sporting his pajama bottoms and nothing else, was growling on top of the creature, his claws outstretched.

The other two monsters bolted immediately, screaming like high-school jocks. Logan ripped the mask off of the creature, who actually proved to be some football player.

"Get out of here! We ought to press charges!"

The jocks darted away, leaving the area. Alex looked around and realized what they were here for: tagging anti-mutant hate graffiti on the walls.

"Damn kids," he muttered. "You shouldn't have come out here alone, kid."

Alex didn't bother to comment, just studied the charicature drawing of the mutants at the mansion. It was actually quite good, but it depicted them as monsters. Worse than even them.

"Yeah, yeah," the boy finally answered. "Thanks for... saving me."

The man nodded, but didn't say anything for a long moment as they headed back inside. "Things are different around here, and you know it. Be careful, Dynamo. Healing factor or not, even I couldn't survive a shotgun blow to the head. You know you can't."

With that, the Canadian mutant left to go back inside. Alex watched him leave, contemplating how close that shot had been.

The world really was different.

* * *

><p>Storm stood near the gazebo, watching the construction company slowly rebuild the mansion's support structures. The one she knew she could lean on stood nearby, smoking a cigar to deal with the stress.<p>

Various students were around, some trying to help the best they could without powers, others seemingly moping around. Fresh tears seemed to still be falling after all this time, and the sight nearly wrenched Storm's heart from her chest. She gulped loudly, turning away.

Without a moment's hesitation, the shorter Canadian mutant put his arm around her waist, holding her tightly. He gave her a sly grin, and it was purely contagious. She couldn't help but smile, even though she felt empty inside.

"What are we going to do?" asked Ororo.

"To be honest, I don't know," Logan answered, gripping her tighter.

Storm knew that Logan couldn't be more right.

* * *

><p>"Can I get your attention, please?" began the voice of Ororo over the intercom. "The New Mutants squad is scheduled for breakfast first. The rest of you should meet me in sub-level seven."<p>

Rivera smiled at hearing the Weather Witch's voice, knocking her out of her reverie as she headed out of her temporary dormroom she shared with Camille and Jackie. "She sounds so... confident over the intercom."

"It's not like she's never used it before," Jackie said. "But it's... different for sure. It should be him with the microphone."

That silenced them as they headed towards the elevator, while Jacquelyn went for breakfast. The X-Men were all gathered and in various states. Ava was very much unhappy because she couldn't quite get a shower yet, and her hair showed it. Alex was already stuffing his face with strips of bacon, part of his personal stash. Grant was busy programming his phone, his fingers moving impossibly fast because he was snapping them back and forth over wide areas. Rivera smiled at him as she draped her arms over his gold-tinted neck, but even she needed some rest. Kris's body was moving sluggishly and Camille had to wonder if he had somehow woken up blind, because the second time he hit something, he groaned and started feeling around.

They all sat at the table where they had sat with Xavier, with the telepath always at the head. His absence was very much aware to everyone there, but Storm quickly took his place.

"The school has decided to let you attend classes today," Storm explained. "But only for today, and under the rule that there can be no powers."

"Why now? It's been so long since we've even been at school," said Camille. "Won't we be behind?"

"You may be behind in your schoolwork, but this is important. The school board is going to be voting tonight on a possible mutant ban."

"Great," muttered Kris. "Just what we need. I say to heck with them."

"For once," Ava began, "I have to agree with Kris. I... I don't think I can go back there. They'll treat us like dirt."

Storm looked at her closest student. "That may be what happens at first, but eventually, you will be accepted."

Grant piped up. "Actually, chances are, mutants won't be fully integrated into society for another two generations, possibly more, if we go by examples like race, gender or orientation."

Storm sighed. "Thank you, Aurum, for _that_ bode of confidence. Anyone else have any doubts?"

"Yeah," Alex said, explaining last night. "That kind of stuff will happen every day to any mutant out there. What use is it for us to make the first move?"

Storm looked at him. "The Bayville School Board is the first governing body to propose a mutant ban. If this goes well, what's to stop other school systems from doing the same thing? Eventually, it could become a state or federal issue. If you six cannot show the school that you mean well, that you aren't going to cause anyone any trouble, then this could affect mutants all over the country." She sighed as they let that sink in. "I'm not good at these rousing speeches, kids, but you _are_ this first step, whether you like it or not."

"Fine," Ava said suddenly. "We'll do it. Why not? What have we got to lose?"

"Our dignity?"

"Our friends?"

"Our education?"

"Our lives?"

She sighed. "You're right. All of this could happen. But we may as well be brave and let it happen, instead of acting like babies."

She was blunt. Direct. To the point. Xavier's death had that effect on her, Alex had noticed.

"I'm in," he answered.

Reluctantly, the rest slowly agreed.

"All right, now that that is settled," Storm muttered, pushing up from the table. She looked at her watch. "If you'll excuse me, I have to prepare for a meeting with investors. Go and make him proud."

* * *

><p>The whispering was enough to drive all of them up the wall. It was the reaction they had expected, almost like right out of an 80's sitcom. Several people were yelling things like, "Go Home!" and "Stay out of our school, muties!" Or the worst, "You gonna blow up our school next?"<p>

Expecting it and hearing it were totally different things, so when Kris walked into the school, he'd reacted totally different from the way he had wanted to. His clenching fingers were itching to shoot harmless sparks at everyone around him, just to freak them out, but Alex noticed and gave him a look.

"It's okay. They're just words," he muttered at the younger mutant.

Grant was getting the worst of it. Since his decision to throw away his image inducer, he'd not regretted it until this moment. His gold skin made him stick out like a sore thumb. He'd been called so many, many names since he'd gotten out of Ava's car earlier that he could barely think straight.

Rivera squeezed his hand encouragingly, and Grant smiled as they walked into the building. At least she seemed to be dealing better than she had before.

Alex walked in behind them, surprised to see Taryn. But as he came closer, the girl turned away, looking down at the ground in shame. She walked away from him with her friends at her side, and Ava couldn't help but see that as a good thing.

"If she can't handle the fact that you're a mutant, then she wasn't right for you."

Alex didn't comment but just nodded, crest-fallen. The bell rang, signaling the start of one of the roughest days of their lives.

* * *

><p>Rivera caught up with Grant after class, where the boy had his nose buried so far into his text book that his head only looked like a mop of black hair from a distance.<p>

"How are you holding up?" she asked as she sat next to him, back to the wall.

He shook his head. "Not good. I can't handle the looks they give me." The boy looked up at her. "Maybe I should go home."

She pondered his statement for a moment. The way he said it made her wonder if he was talking about the Institute. Almost immediately, he gave her a sympathetic look and she froze.

"No," Rivera said, nearly pleading. "You can't go home."

The boy looked away for a moment before meeting her eyes. "My dad is better than he was before, and I know he misses me."

She sighed. "Can't you just get a new image inducer?"

"The cat is already out of the bag, Rivera. Even if I were to get a new one, people would still know that it's me. I'd get the same looks as before."

She looked down and away from him, tears forming at her eyes. It was true. She couldn't think of a way to get past that truth, but he took a deep breath.

"I won't leave the Institute if you don't want me to, Rivera," he said. "I don't want to leave you either." The boy stood up suddenly, snapping his book shut. He offered her his hand, and he yanked her to her feet. "I'm going to take some time off at the Institute, get my head straight."

She wasn't convinced that he wasn't going to leave her. She somehow sensed that the boy had already made up his mind, and Rivera couldn't have that. Her mind started to swirl with ways to get him to stay.

"Grant, do you think you can stay for the rest of the day? Just for today? Can you do it for me?"

The boy looked up, squeezing her hand, and nodded. "Yes. I can do it for you. Anything for you."

She hugged him desperately, not wanting to let go. She wasn't going to let Grant give up without a fight.

* * *

><p>Wolverine sniffed the air, pulling off of his bike as soon as he arrived in the old theater. It was old and decrepit, but he needed something to get his mind off of his loss. He had sensed someone nearby, someone he knew he needed to investigate.<p>

The place was eerie as he approached in his leather jacket, jeans, and combat boots. He pressed his hand against the door, sniffing to make sure, before making his way inside through the boarded up door, cutting through it as easily as a knife through butter.

"Well, well," muttered a voice. Logan's sensitive hearing picked up on the movement from the right, and he managed to pivot to the left just in time. "Look what the cat dragged in. Wait: is a wolverine a cat?"

A dark mass of shadow tendrils hit the ground where he had been standing, almost glowing with silver energy as it chewed through the floor. He knew who it was immediately: Valkyrie, one of Magneto's Acolytes.

More shadows bent towards him, guided by a silvery hue in the back of the theater. Logan growled, his claws shooting out as he rolled out of the way and cut into the floor, trying to slow down the animated shadows.

"Okay, girlie, you've gotten my attention. What do you want?"

"Want?" asked the girl, before suddenly, Logan sensed another presence in the room. "Oh, yes. I guess we do want something. We need Xavier's help, Wolverine."

For a second, Logan just stopped and stared at her, shocked, but apparently stopped for too long. A blast of darkness hit him on the shoulder, knocking him back two feet and making him much angrier than before.

He dashed down the aisle, attempting to cut through shadowy blasts of energy and dark figures grabbing at his feet. In the darkness of the theater, she was very, very powerful.

Having an idea, he dashed for the wall and had to block a jet of black and silver energy, just before he reached it. Three quick slashes and a kick knocked open a large hole, exposing the inside of the room to the light outside.

He stood in the semi-circle of light and waited on some kind of maneuver, but she never attacked again. The shadows seemed to melt all around him, jabbing at the circle of light but unable to penetrate.

The Acolyte sighed. "My friend, Naomi here, could use some telepathic assistance. She didn't exactly come back right." As though sensing that Logan was going to ask what that meant, the girl tsked. "I brought her back to life, Wolverine, and when she came back, she had the intellectual and behavioral maturity of a newborn. You should have seen Acid's reaction the first time she shat in the corner."

"I don't care about her problems," the man said. "We've got enough of our own. You'll have to find another telepath."

"You mean you don't care about making sure that a child has the best life possible?" asked Valkyrie. "Doesn't that go against Xavier's code of morals?"

Logan finally sighed, sheathing his claws. "Look, kid, I'm truly surprised that Magneto doesn't know this, but Xavier's not around anymore."

She pondered that for a minute, before Logan growled at her inability to understand. "He's dead, Acolyte. Now, leave us be. Find another telepath. Or rather, don't. I'll bet that Sorceress will be a lot tougher to handle when she remembers the magic words."

Her eyes widened with shock.

* * *

><p>Archie stood up from the sofa, walking past Jade who was enveloped in a magazine. Lily was chomping down the ground beef directly from the package, without a care in the world. Astoria was in the bathroom down the hall, trying on a new look and trying to be fashion-focused, he guessed. Tristan was pacing in front of the television, seemingly worried about something.<p>

"What's eating you, Arsenal?" Archie asked as he headed to the fridge.

"He hasn't heard from the Weather Bitch in two days," Lily said between mouthfuls.

Tristan pointed and blew up the beef carton on the plate, causing meat to explode all over the beastly girl, before smirking. "It's none of your business."

"It is if you don't stop pacing back and forth," Jade explained. "You're giving me a headache."

The boy rolled his eyes. "This has nothing to do with anything."

"And everything to do with something," Astoria said as she exited the bathroom, dressed in a tight leather skirt and a light blue top, trying to match the highlights in her hair. "What's going on with her, really?"

Tristan shrugged. "She's just been quiet lately, which bugs me since she's been talking with me practically nonstop ever since Xavier's death."

"Use you and abuse you," Archie muttered, pulling out the orange juice and drinking straight from the bottle. "They all do it."

"Yeah, because you know so well, lover boy," Jade said sarcastically. "How many dates have you been on? Oh, right. None."

The boy was considering getting her back with as many water-themed pranks he could imagine when someone knocked on the door. Everyone stood up to greet the person, who turned out to be Principal Kelly, weirdly enough.

"Hello, guys!"

"Principal Kelly?" asked Tristan.

"Whatcha want?" asked Lily.

"I just thought I'd stop by and personally invite you all to come back to school."

Jade took one look at the man and rolled her eyes. "Because I'm so sure that we all want to be treated like dog sh- crap."

After another couple of outbursts, the principal looked at Tristan. "If you do come, I'm certain you won't be bothered by anyone. In fact, I think they are all afraid of you."

The five members looked at each other for a moment, relaying a silent conversation.

"We'll be there," Tristan said, thinking of how he could get close to Ava to ask what was going on.

* * *

><p>Rivera snuck out of class, leaving one of her duplicates behind in her place. She smiled as she felt the rush of freedom, but then realized that she still had a job to do.<p>

Grant had been on her mind all morning, and she thought very hard about how to keep things the way they are. If she wasn't careful, the boy would just leave.

She headed to the office and asked the secretary to use the phone. After a quick reference to her phone, she had the right number and began to dial.

It rang three times before someone finally picked up.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Forsythe! This is Rivera Smith, Grant's girlfriend. You saw me at the funeral, but it was too hectic for me to introduce myself," she began, already feeling guilty for not saying anything to Grant's father.

**"Oh, that's all right. Grant talks a lot about you."**

"Good things, right?"

**"Mostly."**

Rivera laughed. "Well, I actually wanted to talk to you about something really fast. This is the first day back to school after we were outed, and things have not been going well for Grant. He's feeling very, very down after he was trying to be so brave while we were in hiding. I'm afraid he might leave the Institute and go back to live with you, and I-"

**"I understand,"** the man said, and she could almost see the man's smile. **"You need me to try and convince him to be brave. I'll try my best, Rivera. You have my word."** He paused for a moment. **"Rivera, I've really got to get going now, but thanks for calling. It was good to speak with you."**

"No, thank you! I'm so happy! I'll talk to you later!" They hung up and Rivera felt very good about this.

* * *

><p>The Brotherhood decided to make their presence known the minute they walked through those doors, Lily bursting through the door with her beast strength, shocking everyone. The murmurs made each member feel proud to be so powerful, but all for different reasons.<p>

One kid smiled, and it caught Tristan completely wrong. He suddenly twisted the kid around and demanded, "What's so funny, kid? Why are you smiling? Are you laughing at us because we're mutants?" He finally yanked the kid closer to him, before the kid ran off screaming.

It felt good. Very good.

* * *

><p>Ava hated gym. It always felt so extraneous to her day since they were always in Danger Room sessions outside of school. She especially hated it when she had to join in and dress out.<p>

She dribbled the ball down the court, barely even able to do that. She was not good at anything with basketball, but when she managed to take a shot and make it, everyone turned on her.

"There's no way you made that without your powers!" yelled Taryn. The other girls turned on Ava so fast that it felt like Taryn might have inadvertently started a riot.

"No, I didn't! I swear! Did you feel any wind?"

The whistle caught their attention. "Hit the bench, Bronte."

Ava turned and was slightly thankful, but more hurt than anything. Even if she didn't like sports, or P.E. class, or Taryn, it still hurt to see those girls turn on her like that. She looked around as she was going to sit down, just before she saw Principal Kelly in the hall, carrying a box. The trophy case was sitting in front of him.

He began to pick trophies off the case, surprising her. "Principal Kelly, what are you doing? Making room for another award?"

"No, Avalon, I'm afraid an inquiry is in order," the man began, "to determine if Bayville High deserves some of these sports awards."

This did not sound good. "Why? Another steroid break-out?"

"Worse. Mutant powers," he said, just as he picked up the Girls' Swim Team trophy that Rivera had worked hard to help win.

"Kelly, just because we have powers doesn't mean that we use them," explained Ava.

Kelly whirled on her. "Really? Your friend Rivera has the power to duplicate herself and the motions of others. She actually enrolled as three people, competed as three people, and won as three people. And who's to say that she didn't mimic famous swimmers to get perfect form?"

"I'm to say that she didn't!" Ava countered. "She would never cheat like that! The only reason why Rivera used her duplicates in school is because she didn't have very good control over her abilities, and if she had bumped into someone, she could have accidently split and exposed us."

His face contorted. "There you go again, proving that mutants have something to hide." He looked up and grabbed another trophy, putting it in the box. "This school has been dealing with very strange things, Avalon, and it all makes sense now. You're a menace!"

Ava shook her head, looking down. "No. Not all of us!"

"You're right! Some of you are cheats! I'm going to need Rivera's Swim Team MVP award returned."

"That is so unfair! She fought hard for that!"

The man turned around, looking back at her. "A fiery temper? That's a dangerous combination with your kind of powers. I'll be surprised if we don't have a hurricane overnight."

Ava grimaced. "I have a lot more control than you think, Kelly."

"And I have a responsibility to keep the normal students out of harm's way!"

"Just what are you saying?" asked Ava.

"I'll see _you_ tonight."

* * *

><p>The auditorium was packed with students, parents, and concerned citizens, most human but some were not.<p>

Alex looked up from his seat next to Storm and Origami, watching the people around him murmur and whisper. He shuddered at the thought of what this night could mean for people everywhere.

Storm leaned over and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Alex, I'd like you to speak."

His eyes bugged out. "Me? Why?"

"It's important to hear an inside perspective," Origami explained. "I think you have this easy way about you that relieves tension and you are a good speaker."

"And?" he asked, still confused as to why he would be speaking.

"We need the voice of a student up on stage, Alex," Storm explained. "And you are the perfect one to do it."

Alex thought for a long moment, not sure what he was going to say or how they would react to it. "All right. But where're the others? A familiar face and a bag of chips would be nice."

Storm chuckled. "It won't be long til the others get here."

* * *

><p>"Wow, this is a huge crowd," Kris said in awe.<p>

The others nodded in agreement. Ava was nervous about Kelly's warning to her, and Rivera had been royally pissed about the fact that she'd have to turn in her trophy. Maybe not after tonight, if it goes smoothly.

A growl suddenly erupted from the side, shocking them to their core.

There goes smoothly.

The Brotherhood suddenly broke past them, standing between the Institute students and the door inside. Each of them was wearing their combat uniforms, ready to fight.

"Hey, X-Geeks!" shouted Archie. "We're here for one reason and one reason only: revenge for Mystique!"

Camille stared at her brother, confused. "What are you guys going to do? Attack us? Why don't you prove those idiots in there right?"

"I think we will," Jade said.

"Because we aren't afraid to use our powers." Astoria's hands suddenly burst into blue-colored flames.

"So you can guess what happens next then, huh?" Tristan said, taking a battle position.

The Institute students, despite not having their uniforms, turned into the X-Men very quickly with their battle stances.

"Remember: no powers!" Rivera shouted.

"Fun," Kris muttered.

Ava looked Tristan in the eye. "Why are you doing this? We can stop before this escalates!"

He shook his head. "No, we can't." Within seconds, he raised his fingers and fired wildly, not taking the time to aim that he usually does.

The group split up just as several car windows were broken by his blasts. Archie smiled and raised his hands, immediately summoning water from any source he could. A fire hydrant popped open, creating almost unlimited source for his powers.

Water blasts were sent from every possible direction, but they wildly pushed cars and shattered windows. Rivera managed to roll out of the way just before one of them would have taken off her head.

Astoria hurled flame after flame, some catching vehicles on fire and others hitting the shrubs. It would only be a matter of time before this escalated into something very, very wrong.

* * *

><p>Alex took a deep, hard breath as he stood in front of everyone at a podium. "Hi everyone. Um, this is a challenge for me to speak because I'm not exactly sure how to collect my thoughts, but if you will, bear with me.<p>

"My name is Alex Rogers, and I attend the Xavier Institute. It's a school for mutants where our powers can be nurtured. Recently, we lost the school's founder, Professor Charles Xavier. He was a mutant, like me, who only wanted to help others. He wanted to foster us, to challenge us, and to keep us moral. His school was a way to do that. And it still is.

"Without him, I would never have become the upstanding citizen that I am today. He was the best man that I will ever know-" He stopped to wipe away the tear forming on his eyes. "The point is that he dreamed of a world where mutants and humans could live in peace, in union.

"Mutant is a scary word, isn't it? Most of you are parents, so I want you to imagine what it would be like to find out that one of your children was a mutant. Would you love them the same way? Of course you would, because they are your children.

"Depending on how you vote tonight, this could affect your children. Would you deny your child access to a public education if they had blond hair? How about brown eyes? What if they were short? Tall? Gay? Straight? Colored? Non-colored?" He paused, thankful that he could tell he was given the opportunity to share his views.

"If your children were mutants, this mutant ban would be messing with their education. This ban could lead to more complex laws against mutant-kind and possibly the lives of your children. Shouldn't they have the right to live free from persecution? Shouldn't they have the right to live in a safe world, the world that Charles Xavier desired more than anything you can imagine? I encourage you to vote against this mutant ban, because your children could face the consequences." He stopped, looking around the room. He was about to close his speech with a quote from Xavier when something suddenly exploded outside, loud enough that everyone could hear it.

Another explosion followed, making everyone begin to panic, including Alex.

The three mutants inside hurried to the outside, to figure out what was happening. But the crowd was already rushing outside, trying to figure out what was going on in panic.

"The Brotherhood!" Alex exclaimed.

Lily was jumping on top of Kris, trying to bite at him with her huge powerful jaws. "Get offa me, ya big fuzzy freak!"

Rivera and Grant appeared out of nowhere, toppling the powerful beast girl by tackling into her.

She growled, before grabbing a car and hurling it toward the three teens.

All three lurched to the ground, rolled to their right, and avoided the rubble. But in the way of that rubble was Principal Kelly. The car was flipped over, on fire, and it stopped just before him.

The flames lurched instantly, and he braced himself for impact, scared out of his mind. When none came, he walked back to the crowd of people watching the Brotherhood try to destroy the X-Men.

"See!" he yelled. "Mutants are not only dangerous, but uncontrollable! This is what is in store for our school!"

"Look again, Principal Kelly," muttered Keiko.

"Watch the Xavier Institute children," added Storm. "They aren't using their powers, even though they would rely on them otherwise. They are exhibiting self-control."

They watching in horror as Archie threw a large wave of water down a row of cars, aiming right for Ava and Camille. Ava grabbed her wrist and ran backwards, before leaping onto a heavily dented-in car and rushing out of the way of the water.

But Archie didn't stop there. The water suddenly broke apart and headed right for Rivera and Grant, this time in the form of several long tentacles floating through the air. They darted forward like snakes, but the two boys darted backwards and leapt over a concrete barrier, just before the water struck. There was a splash as they dodged it, but things were not that easy.

Tristan pointed his finger and aimed right for Principal Kelly. He knew that if took the shot now, he'd be saving the school some trouble in the future.

"Oh no!" Alex yelled.

The red blast of energy was launched, and interestingly enough, Jade added her high-speed bolt to it, making it insanely fast.

Kelly wouldn't have even seen it, but when he saw a certain Asian boy with bright orange hair standing in front of him, he barely understood what had happened.

"It's going to take more than that," Kris explained.

Tristan scowled at the boy for absorbing his blast.

Meanwhile, Archie whipped his hand through the air and sent pressurized jets of water at the crowd, enjoying being let loose.

However, before he could hit anything, bolts of pink-hued electricity met the water in the middle, immediately turning it into steam. The couple he had aimed at had been saved by Ava in the end.

Alex saw the car spinning through the air, launched by Lily, caught on fire by Astoria, and sped up by Jade. It was basically a flying car bomb. And it was heading right for a group of parents and faculty members.

Alex pointed both hands and delivered a blast of green energy, causing it to explode in mid-air. Shrapnel was still a problem, but Camille was there, making a wall of solid mud from the wet earth.

The X-Men gathered in front of the school on Ava's orders, taking fighting stances to prepare to take out the Brotherhood.

"C'mon, let's get out of here!" Astoria said, extinguishing the flames around her fingertips. The others agreed and finally ran off.

The battle tension was gone immediately, but a different kind of tension made its appearance as the parents were whispering and murmuring behind their backs.

Someone near Grant clapped, and it shocked the boy to see it. No one joined him, but as he looked closer, the person surprised him.

"Dad?" the boy asked, giving Rivera a look. The girl only smirked.

"Hiya, Grant," the man said, smiling as they shook hands. "Your girlfriend here invited me to the meeting. It seems that we have some things to discuss."

The gold-skinned mutant looked from his father to Rivera, and then back again. "It's about me leaving, isn't it?"

His father nodded. "Yes. I'll be honest here: it surprised me when Rivera told me about it. I mean, I thought you were doing well here?"

"I was!" Grant explained, his expression sullen. "Don't get me wrong. The stress of what I look like was nearly too much to handle, Dad. Everyone is watching me all the time."

His father looked at him for a moment. "Grant, if everyone is watching you, why not show them a good example? Doesn't this give you an opportunity to share your side of the story?" He let that sink in before he continued. "Look. If you really think you want to leave the Institute, you're more than welcome to leave and come back home. But I think you can do real good here, just like tonight, in the position that you are in." He smirked as he looked in Rivera's direction. "And of course, your beautiful girlfriend wouldn't be able to come with you."

Rivera blushed, thankful that Grant seemed to be listening. It was as though an unseen weight was lifted from Grant's back, and he seemed to stand up taller.

"Okay, I'll stay," he said, smiling at her. "Thanks, Dad, for helping me to see it. It always helps to hear your advice."

"I'm glad to give it to you."

* * *

><p>Logan finally arrived back in the mansion catacombs, but it seemed that the older students were walking around like zombies. Wolverine had seen zombies, and they are not fun.<p>

He peered at Ava as she walked by. "Um, was there a funeral that I didn't know about?"

"May as well be," she answered. "The school needs to hire a mortician."

After a few more minutes, they were ready to meet in the planning room. Storm was there at the head of the table again, and not one of them felt like it was right for them to do that.

They sat down, still feeling grim.

"I'm proud of you, children. You did extremely well in the face of adversity, and proved that mutants can maintain their self-control," she explained. "Regardless of the results, I want you to know and understand that."

"Doesn't matter, Storm, if we did extremely well or not," Kris explained. "We live in Conservative County."

"Yeah, exactly," Rivera agreed. "The school board was going to vote no regardless."

Storm sighed. "You saved their lives. Alex, you did very well at getting the message out there that this vote could affect even them on a personal level. As a result, you're going back to school!"

Everyone was surprised, but not exactly in a good way. Not in the way that Storm and the other faculty had expected.

"Hmm, I guess there's hope after all," Rivera said dryly.

"Sorry, Ororo," Ava said. "I just don't see why we should be happy about this. We'll be dealing with so much grief every day."

Storm paused, putting her hands on the table. "It's not going to be easy, young ones. But just know that Xavier would be proud of you for last night. Bad times at school or not, you have saved the day for you and for mutants after you. It's a worthy goal, but a goal that the X-Men can achieve."

* * *

><p><em><strong>I apologize for taking so long! I had intended to update sooner, but my idiotic  strange / mentally-deficient / lovable / pyromaniac of a brother set a small fire outside, wearing pajama pants and Converse. **_

_**(Let me stop here to say that it was a terrible fashion choice, but I digress...)**_

_**He stomped on the fire to put it out (he lied at first that he was "just walking by it"), and then he proved something that everyone here should learn: pajama pants are the least flame-retardant clothing option in existence. **_

_**In a bit of sitcom-ish comedy, he stripped to nothing, bare-assed and ran inside after he realized the pants were melting against his leg. **_

_**After an overnight stay in the hospital, we learned he had second-degree circumferential burns, meaning that he burned through most of the layers of skin all the way around his leg. **_

_**Let's just say I've had a busy week. Love my little brother to death, but he is dumb. And now I have to listen to him bitch. **_

_**What fun.**_

* * *

><p><strong>Cerebro Files<br>**#17

**Name:** Rivera Smith

**Codename: **Echo

**Age:** 16

**Mutant Classification Level:** 2

**Powers:** _Duplication and Adaptive Muscle Mimicry._ Her powers allow her to mimic the actions of anything she can see, so long as it is within the realm of possibility. Within her mind are two "personalities" that she can summon as doppelgangers to help her do many tasks.

**Personality Profile:** She is the quintessential "middle-man." She always has a wise outlook on an argument and knows how to resolve it. She has a good work ethic and can settle disagreements or solve problems.

#18

**Name:** Archibald "Archie" Jones

**Codename:** Madidus

**Age:** 17

**Mutant Classification Level:** 3

**Powers:** _Hydrokinesis and Hydro-Mimicry._ He can manipulate water with only his mind, able to produce various effects. He can shift his body into a liquid form and manipulate that liquid.

**Personality Profile:** He tries to be easy-going, but he often has a temper that gets in his way. He enjoys being a prankster and causing problems. He avoids being close to people, however, because he's subconsciously afraid to lose other people like his sister.


	43. The Stuff of Villains: Two Sides

**The Stuff of Villains:  
>Two Sides to Every Coin<strong>

The street was dark and grim, littered with trash and obviously poor. The sounds of sirens and horns flooded the area, giving Valkyrie a slight headache.

She turned just in time to see Naomi about to walk off, and she sighed. The silver-haired girl grabbed the powerful mutant's arm, pushing her along.

"Naomi, get your act together. If everything goes well tonight, you should be getting your years back."

No answer. Naomi never gave any responses to the girl, because the teenager was practically an infant. That was the trade-off to Valkyrie's rare and implausible resurrection powers; they basically revert the person back to newly-born stages of development.

Valkryie sighed again as she thought about it. There seemed to be this impending deadline to fix her years, because the silver-haired mutant was NOT going to potty-train Naomi.

They passed by three men on a stoop, the kind of guys you would expect to hunt little girls. One of them whistled, and another one made kissing noises.

The young Acolyte had to fight the urge to vomit.

"Hey, girlie, why don't you come on over and show me what you learned in school today?"

The others laughed, obviously excited.

Valkyrie turned and stared at them. "Really? That's the worst porno-line I can think of, you idiot."

She flicked her wrist nonchalantly, making sure to keep a hold on the newborn-but-not-really-newborn girl next to her. Shadows from the dark street bent towards the stoop, not noticeable at first.

Three of them separated from the concrete and twisted into mobile tendrils, almost like snakes of energy. They rushed up and grabbed one of the men, slamming him against the staircase he was standing on.

A blast of darkness fired from the girl's own shadow, shoving the second man into the third.

Then she waved her hand upwards, closing it into a fist. Shadows wrapped completely around their bodies, forcing them to the ground, on their hands and knees.

"You should be used to this position after prison, right?"

The men cried out in pain as the shadows tightened, but after a second, she relaxed her hold slightly. She wrapped her hand tightly around Naomi's wrist and took a deep breath, letting the shadowy energy of the night envelop her body.

Then the two of them took off, flying in any direction but there. Valkyrie wasn't really a fan of using her abilities to fly, but they were necessary in situations like this. She wished she had just flown anyway earlier that night, but carrying another person was difficult. Or heck, better yet, why didn't Magneto have Bennet teleport them?

Heck, that brought up another point. Why didn't Exodus fix Naomi? He was a telepath too.

Valkyrie had learned over the last few weeks that you just don't ask Magneto questions.

Eventually, she dropped to the ground as innocently as she could, before continuing the trek on foot and hoping no one saw the two girls flying through the air. Finally, she spotted their destination, a shining white office building.

"C'mon, Naomi," Valkyrie said. "Exodus said it was this one."

* * *

><p>The elevator raised from the underbelly of the Institute, stopping in the middle of the gazebo near the woods on the West lawn. It opened quickly, revealing both Grant and Kris with backpacks and dressed for class.<p>

Kris looked back at the gazebo as the elevator went down again. "I guess it's too late to go back now."

"Yeah, school... it's not that fun anymore."

Kris looked at the golden-skinned mutant like he was an alien. "Fun and school have never existed together before."

Grant looked away for a moment. "Yeah, I guess I know what you mean."

Kris laughed. "Yeah, well, in my opinion, the Institute hasn't been very fun lately." It didn't have to be stated that he was talking about Xavier.

"Logan's taking it rough and then taking it out on us. Beast seems to be acting differently. Keiko tries to keep her emotions and her job separate, but she always seems sullen in the lab. And Miss Ororo can't stop crying when no one is watching, according to Ava," Grant explained, as though making a list.

Kris looked over to see the construction crew working on the framework. It seemed to resemble the mansion more and more each day.

"I wish we had our house back though," said Kris.

"The people over at Shaw's have been very good to us," Grant said. "Most of the time, construction jobs take months to get to this step. The average is about a month and a half, I think."

"You think?" asked the Japanese mutant incredulously. "I'm pretty sure you know that for sure, just like you know a little bit of everything else, don't you?"

Grant looked down again. "Yeah, sorry about that. I just read a lot, and sometimes, random junk flies out. I swear, I know a lot more of the 'don't-need-to-know' than the 'need-to-know.'"

Kris nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly. "Yeah, you really do. But I bet Rivera likes it."

Grant blushed. "Yeah..."

The two of them laughed as they headed towards the gate.

Meanwhile, inside the ruins of the mansion, the New Mutants were helping to clear the loose rubble away. They nearly had all of it, believe it or not, after several days of non-stop clearing.

Needless to say, every single one of them were sick of it.

Haley was standing on the very tip of the Cerebro room, which was practically defunct now that they don't have a telepath. She extended her reach to the trees nearby, holding out her arms.

She made a yanking motion and then guided her target towards the mansion. Several roots suddenly shot through the earth above the whole in the room, before angling down towards the base.

"All right," Beast called, having to shake himself from an uncharacteristic stupor. "Load it up."

Jackie, in full tiger mode, leapt through the air and hit the ruined walkway, a chunk of it falling towards the ground.

Reese, at the last minute, used his powers (and every bit of his concentration) to create a springboard large enough, and the debris landed on it before being launched back into the air.

Augustus shot out and began to spin his body round and round, staying surprisingly silent as he did. Within seconds, a vortex shot up and caught the falling debris, riding on the top of the wind.

Haley flicked her wrist and every root suddenly lashed out and grabbed the bridge, immediately holding it in place like a net. Haley remained ready to help carry more things and load more onto the tree roots, and from there they would lift them out and onto the large dump pile outside.

Beast sighed as he watched the display, wishing that they had the manpower to destroy the largest pieces completely. But this would have to do.

"Good job," he muttered, thinking about the status of Cerebro.

Reese looked up and studied him for a second, half-expecting some kind of witty retort or a Shakespeare reference.

They didn't get one.

* * *

><p>The Brotherhood of Bayville was bored.<p>

That much was evident. Just about every single one of them was just plain bored.

Things were dull. As much as some of them hated the place, they couldn't even go to school to alleviate their dull lives.

"God, why is nothing happening?" Lily shouted suddenly, in the middle of the room for no reason whatsoever.

The scream shook even Jade out of her constant magazines. "Nothing is happening because the X-Men are obviously busy getting caught up to that dump of a high school."

Astoria had been trying on a bunch of new clothes, clothes that she really couldn't afford. She'd been way too tired of everything they were going through, and an impromptu shopping trip was necessary. "Well, I hope they stay busy. I hate fighting. All it does is lead to destruction." She left it at that, not even putting up one of her characteristic smiles.

Archie looked up at her, knowing that Naomi's apparent resurrection, added to the fact that she was on the wrong side of the whole Magneto thing, was bothering her. "Destruction is sometimes necessary. It can lead to rebirth."

"Shut up."

Tristan, who had been relatively quiet, suddenly got a phone call. A phone call from his... other line.

He walked out of the room, making everyone else wonder.

Astoria was the closest as she heard bits and pieces of what the other guy was saying.

She could have sworn she heard the name, "Naomi David."

* * *

><p>Valkyrie knocked on the office door, an ornate piece of wood that practically screamed wealth.<p>

"Come in," a somewhat sultry voice called from the other end of the door.

Valkyrie opened the door and ushered Naomi inside. She looked up to see quite possibly the most beautiful woman she had ever seen outside of the movies- no, probably more than the movies.

Her platinum blonde hair ran down to her shoulders, where it was playfully curled. Her eyes were ice blue, and her lipstick was a shade lighter than that.

This woman exuded auras of beauty and high-maintenance.

"You'd be right about both of those, Valkyrie. Can I call you Val?"

Telepath. Forgot.

"No, you cannot," the silver-haired mutant said.

Exodus had warned her about Miss Frost. She was probably the most powerful telepath alive today, and Valkyrie had to be careful not to reveal any information off-hand.

"Information? About Magneto's plans to make an island base for all mutant kind? About your friend here, who obviously shouldn't be alive, but is probably a better use for Mr. Lensherr alive. Am I correct?"

Damn.

"Yes. I came here to-"

Emma looked up at her. "Yes, I know. You want me to restore your little weapon, right? Messing with a Level Five mutant is difficult business. There are only two in the world, as far as my employer and I know.

"Their potential is practically limitless," Emma said, pointing to the girl. "She can basically do anything, as long as she can speak in Hebrew." She gave Valkyrie a pitying look. "Your attempts to block me are pathetic. Everyone is an open book to me."

"If you don't stop doing that, I'll blast you from here to next week."

The telepath raised an eyebrow, knowing full well that the umbrakinetic would not be able to even touch her before she was turned into a mental basket case. "Val, I'm afraid that you wouldn't have a deal then, would you?"

"A deal?"

"Yes, of course," Frost explained. "Did you think I would do this for free?"

* * *

><p>"I can't believe we're in New York City after all this time, again," the girl said, looking up at the skyscrapers. She could enjoy them this time, without the constant threat of a Sentinel hiding behind one of them.<p>

Tristan sighed. He had not been happy to see Astoria tailing him. One of the informants from within HYDRA, specifically Ghost, had called to let him know a lead on Naomi's whereabouts. HYDRA had been tracking her for weeks, and after losing her for a long period of time, she appeared on the radar again only a few hours ago.

"Why are you working with them again, Tristan?" asked the pyrokinetic. "I thought you gave up your assassin days."

"I did," he explained, rolling his eyes at her presence. "This is just a lead on Naomi because Ghost knew that she had been one of our team members before. He thought we ought to know, and I knew I wanted to scope out Magneto too myself."

"Oh," the girl said. "I get it now."

They came to a corner, and Tristan peeked around it to look at the white office building. The address was correct, so that had to be it.

"That it?"

"Yes."

"Are we going in?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Stop asking questions," Tristan said, breathing loudly.

"Fine. If you didn't want me along, you should have left me at the boarding house."

Tristan rolled his eyes. "You know full and well that you would not have wanted to miss this. Naomi was your friend, more than anyone else's."

Astoria frowned, leaning against the wall. She pushed her blue bangs out of her face, before sighing. "What are we going to do?"

The boy held the bridge of his nose. "We're going to wait until someone leaves, someone we recognize. And then we'll tail them."

"Cool, a car chase!"

"What?"

"There's _always_ a car chase in these stakeouts."

"Shut up."

* * *

><p>Acid felt... uncomfortable around the base now. It was a little disconcerting to see Magneto rushing around, being reckless with his powers and tearing up furniture. It seemed that he blamed himself somehow for Xavier's death, and no matter how much convincing was done by any of the others, not even Mandi could settle the tide of emotions.<p>

Probably because Mandi herself was dealing with a different tide of emotions. Xavier had been a friend of hers for a long time, and even though Mandi had turned against him, she still was upset.

Sabretooth, Valkyrie, and Acid had tried to talk sense into both of them, but it didn't seem to be working. Exodus had offered to use his telepathy to make the man forget about his troubles, but that wasn't going to happen. Magneto was too afraid someone would betray him and change his mind, a safety precaution against his oldest friend.

Acid himself was ready for some action, but there had not been much to do lately. He hadn't even done anything fun for a while.

Magneto hovered into the room, too good to stand on the floor, apparently. Exodus was at his side, having quickly become his right-hand-man. At his left was Sabretooth, who was not treated as well.

Exodus had worked with Magneto a long time before, and he had been the one to teleport in and save Magneto from the exploding Sentinel. Since then, the former Acolyte had become a current Acolyte.

"Team, it seems there's been an update on Naomi's status," explained the metal master.

Acid sat up, thankful for something to do.

"Acid, Bliss, and Exodus will go to New York just in case someone is needed," explained Magneto. "Valkyrie has met with Emma Frost, who has connections that are not to be taken lightly."

* * *

><p>Almost an hour later, the early morning air cool and crisp, the two Brotherhood mutants finally saw something interesting... The silver-haired member of the Acolytes named Valkyrie walking out of that office building with a tall and fit woman wearing a revealing all white body suit. The last figure was...<p>

"Naomi!" Astoria said, gesturing.

"Quiet," the boy said. He wasn't sure who this woman was but if he wasn't careful, she could be a mutant who could tell where they were. Advanced senses or something.

They entered a small car, a car that proceeded to join traffic. Thankfully, traffic was very difficult, so both Tristan and Astoria felt good about it.

They headed back to the jeep and started it up quickly, before heading after it. It was only a few seconds before they could see it up ahead, and Tristan followed it slowly.

"We're just going to tail it until they get where they are going, okay?"

Astoria nodded, her face deadly serious. It was obvious that she was worried.

They tailed it for about twenty minutes and nearly lost it several times, but they always caught the small, nice convertible in their vision after a few seconds.

Finally, the car stopped outside Central Park, which made perfect sense to Tristan. "Figures."

"Let's go."

"Not yet," the boy said. "We can't let them think we were actually following. I think we were far enough away that it wasn't obvious, all right?"

Astoria nodded, waiting impatiently.

* * *

><p>A certain Japanese boy ran, having left his bike back on the highway. He was running through the Nebraskan wilderness, enjoying his new found freedom. No Xavier, no drama- just his own thing and the road.<p>

He had gotten away from the ruined mansion back on M-Day, the day mutants were revealed to the world. He certainly didn't need the X-Men anymore.

He refused to look back.

"Yo, Stone-Heart, what's up with you?" asked a voice behind him.

He looked back to see someone he had only met two weeks ago. The Native American boy had the expected features: jet black hair, an angular face, and a tan face. He had strange blue eyes with tiny brown flecks that sometimes seemed golden based on the light. His body was lanky and his arms seemed too long for his body.

"Nothing, Jet," Masato said with a grimace.

The Japanese boy had finally found someone who didn't pry or get on his nerves, like Reese or Augustus. Usually, the two of them could just not say anything at all to each other, and that would be completely understandable. It was a good system that Masato enjoyed.

"Oh, okay," the Native American mutant said, before gasping.

With that gasp, his features began to bubble over. His skin became reptilian, his hands turned into claws, and he grew a long spiky tail. His nose and chin elongated slightly and almost looked like a snout, and his eyes became slits.

"Let's get a good run in, the proper way," Gator said, before lunging forward with heightened agility.

Masato smirked, not sure if he actually wanted to or not. But he did, just to humor the other mutant. He absorbed the energy from the earth's movement into his body, becoming his stone-heart obsidian-like form.

It only took two seconds for the two to start a race through the woods, pushing limbs aside and just having an all around good time.

Masato was enjoying every bit of it.

* * *

><p>Valkyrie and Naomi followed Frost along the trail inside Central Park. She couldn't help but feel a little powerless, considering it was now daylight and that much harder for her to use her powers.<p>

Emma smirked at that train of thought, but didn't say anything.

They stopped in front of this huge angel statue surrounded by a fountain. It looked so much like the statue that used to be in front of the Xavier Institute.

"Xavier, huh? I heard he bit the dust." She paused. "Ah, but you knew that. That's why you came here, to me. I was your third choice, apparently after that weak telepath Paris Bennet."

"He was more convenient."

"Yes, of course." Emma looked towards the girl and gestured for her to come. "She obviously seems to have coordination skills. At least she can walk and control boy movements."

The woman touched Naomi's shoulder, and Naomi looked hazily in her direction. "It's as though every bit of life experience was washed away from her." The telepath looked towards the silver-haired mutant. "Your resurrection abilities? They can work on anyone who has died?"

"No, it's not like that. It only works on people who have recently died, before they grow cold," she explained. "And it has to be within certain astrological conditions to work. Otherwise, it's not possible."

"I see," she muttered. "I'll see what I can do. Are you certain that you can get me what I want?"

Valkyrie held up the vial containing tiny blonde hairs. "I'm sure if anyone can do it, Magneto can use his influence to make it happen."

The telepath nodded once, before placing her hands on either side of Naomi's face.

* * *

><p>"Telepath."<p>

Tristan cursed. That made this so much harder.

He and Astoria were watching this from a nearby line of trees. They'd only just arrived, but already, they learned something new.

"You sure she's a telepath?" asked the pyrokinetic Goth.

The boy nodded grimly. "She's restoring Naomi's mind. I guess ever since Valkyrie brought her back, she wasn't quite right."

There had to be a drawback to Valkyrie's abilities. She may have some tiny bit of power over death (hence the name Valkyrie) but there was no way she could bring things to life without a downside. Tristan guessed that that was the downside.

"What do we do?" Astoria asked.

Tristan wasn't going to let this happen, even though he would never tell Astoria that. There was no way that Noami should be restored to full power. She's too strong to be in Magneto's hands, and that would lead to way too many problems in the future if he didn't do something about it now.

He concentrated on the energy bubbling within him, before pointing and releasing a red beam of energy.

It tore through the early morning air, right for the blonde woman below.

Suddenly, the blonde whipped around and her entire body turned to pure diamond. The blast of light hit her palm of her hand, and then bounced off, doing no harm.

"Oh, god, that's not good."

"Why'd you do that?" asked Astoria suddenly.

Tristan shook his head. "We've got more important things to worry about."

Without warning, the two young mutants clutched their skulls, gasping as the blonde telepath pressed on their minds with her psychic powers.

Astoria suddenly screamed, blue flames flickering to life around her body. Within a fraction of a second, they disappeared. Tristan hoped that they had not been seen, but he wasn't about to wait to find out.

* * *

><p>Naomi heard the scream. That was the first moment where it seemed she had even the slightest moment of clarity. Bits and pieces of the last few weeks had not made any sense. She didn't know what anyone was saying to her, she just followed orders.<p>

When she saw the flames in the distance, she immediately understood.

**"Nagach!"** _Push._

Suddenly, the diamond-skinned woman was blasted off of her feet and into the angel statue, snapping off the right wing, debris splashing into the fountain.

Valkyrie spun around to her. "You're better?"

Naomi thought about it.

No, she wasn't better. She had saved Astoria, but she wasn't better. Her mind was still cloudy and confused, and to her knowledge, that was the only word in Hebrew she could speak.

She tried. She tried again.

The telepath must have done something to her language skills. Must have convinced her that she only needed that one word.

It was strange. Very strange. She could speak no English, and she only knew one Hebrew word.

Naomi shook her head the answer. Valkyrie looked at in confusion, but before she could ask, Emma Frost suddenly stood.

"How dare you attack me?" the woman said and walked forward.

Valkyrie had seen the flames herself, seen the girl nearby. "You attacked her friends. She was only reacting. She's still wrong in the head, and I thought you would fix her!"

Emma smiled. "I _did_ fix her; I have jumpstarted the process to learn languages, and then connected that with her powers. I could not do it completely because a lot of what you are asking is beyond my abilities." The woman pointed to Valkyrie's pocket, where the vial sat. "Perhaps with some help, I could."

Valkyrie understood what she meant. The silver-haired mutant cursed. "Fine. Naomi, let's get out of here."

Frost didn't seem to have a problem with them leaving, and very quickly, the two of them left. But Emma wasn't done.

She scanned outward, towards the two who had been watching the entire thing.

But they were gone. Inexplicably. How?

* * *

><p>The two Brotherhood members were running, remaining as thoughtless as possible. It was a technique that Mystique had taught them, surprisingly.<p>

"Look! They went this way," Astoria pointed. The two headed towards Naomi and Valkyrie.

They were only a few feet from an alleyway when they finally caught up to each other.

Astoria and Tristan were weary of approaching, especially since Valkyrie was standing in the shadows of the alleyway.

"What do you two want?"

Astoria stepped closer and her smile returned. "We just want to talk to Naomi."

The silver-haired girl considered it, before shaking her head. "No. You two were the reason why Frost didn't finish the job. You're lucky you ran off when Naomi attacked, because otherwise, Frost would have demolished you from the inside."

Tristan was the only reason they had even gotten away. Astoria wanted to confront the telepath, to end this, but Tristan had convinced them to get out of the way.

"But she's my friend," Astoria began, ready to spill out her whole life story.

But they didn't get the chance.

Because in the next moment, a tall man with red-purple skin suddenly teleported into the alleyway. Tristan raised his hands to fire a blast of energy, but in the next instant, the two girls grabbed onto him. His energy bolt hit the wall behind where they had been standing.

The Acolytes had gotten away.

"God. Are we ever going to see her again?"

Tristan nodded. "Yes. I'm positive of that. Magneto isn't going to let the X-Men just go, Xavier or not. And since we always seem to be involved in their messes, we'll just have to be there to clean up."

* * *

><p>Exodus appeared in the base, taking the other Acolytes with him. Valkyrie hated the feeling of teleportation, but it was extremely convenient.<p>

The man wearing a purple cape and red armor walked into the room, his helmet secured on his head. "Was it successful? Does Sorceress have full use of her powers now?"

Valkyrie shook her head. "Frost was able to unlock only a single word in Hebrew for her, but I think she'll slowly be able to gain more. She still can't speak English."

Magneto cursed, rubbing the bags under his eyes. Apparently, he hadn't been sleeping well since the revelation of Xavier's death.

"Why did it not work?"

"She said it was beyond her capabilities," explained Valkyrie.

The desk to his right suddenly launched itself through the air, crashing into the wall. "Lies!"

The silver-haired girl backed up, and then looked to the other Acolytes for support. Mandi and Jay weren't talking, and Exodus was basically useless because he'd always be on Magneto's side. Naomi wasn't going to speak at all.

She then remembered the solution, before pulling the vial out of her pocket. She tossed it at Magneto.

"Hair? What does this have to do with anything?"

Valkyrie smirked. "Call Essex. He has a job to do."

* * *

><p><strong>Ominous, huh? <strong>

**Sorry to end it there, and I feel bad that I couldn't have the quirky scene between Rogue and Shadowcat phasing from car to car, but it wasn't going to work here. But I thought the peak at what Masato has been doing was worth it. **

**Hmmm... what could Emma Frost mean? And who is Essex? Astute comic book fans know. But, I also want to clarify this: Emma Frost will not be working with the X-Men any time soon. **

**Life has been complicated once more, since we were moving houses and all that. And I've been planning another fic, which you'll see that I've posted. It contains OCs and takes place a 21 years after Avatar: The Last Airbender, and it has a few twists. **

**Please, check it out!**

**Don't forget to review this chapter!**


	44. Blind Alley: Voices from the Past

_**Blind Alley:  
>Voices from the Past<strong>_

The almost-finished mansion was a buzz of activity. The students were using their powers in neat ways to add those finishing details to the mansion, like fixing the pathway or the fountain.

Kris, using borrowed energy from both Ava and Alex, was blasting the asphalt pathway in order to smooth it down.

Haley tended to the trees and planted new shrubbery, persuading bushes and flowers to grow where they otherwise wouldn't.

Rivera was painting, cleaning windows, and loading carts with supplies all at the same time.

Several students were inside, setting up the interior back to its former glory. Camille had a certain eye for interior design (she called it a French thing) and put her skills to good use.

Augustus ran down the hall, being chased by Jackie in full tiger form and carrying a paint roller in her jaws. "Leave me alone, Tigress!"

He spun quickly, creating a vortex of air in front of him that stopped Jackie in her tracks. But it also knocked down everything that had been hung on the walls.

Camille groaned. "Get out of here with all of that mess!"

The two younger students nodded meekly and ran out of the room, the wind dissipating as they did. They ran right past Grant and Beast, who was trying to learn from the gold-skinned mutant how to set up the computer system.

"So can you explain that again?" asked Beast, still confused.

"Well, I've basically re-wired the house to be a smart house," Grant explained. "It was hard to figure out how to do it at first, but I read a bunch of stuff online and I think I've got it.

"The mansion's security system is now equipped in most rooms with holographic projectors, sort of like the Danger Room. But also, listen to this."

Grant hovered his palm over the panel, and soon enough, there was a tiny beep.

**[Hello. How may I help you?]**

Beast's mouth dropped open, his jaw practically dragging against the floor. "How did you do that?"

Grant looked at the teacher-turned-mutant solemnly. "Cerebro's databases had recorded his voice. I mechanically reproduced it." The golden-skinned mutant gestured to the panel. "Hank, meet Cerebro. Cerebro, this is Hank."

**[It is very nice to meet you, Hank.]**

Beast wiped his eyes, tears threatening to form. "Nice to... um, meet you too."

"Cerebro, explain to Hank what you can do."

**[I am a fully-operational avatar of sorts for the Institute. I control all security measures, the electronics, and the lighting in the house,]** explained the uncanny digital ghost of Charles Xavier's voice. **[I am also capable of running the mansion's underbelly, the Danger Room, as well as Cerebro.]**

"Cerebro? He can run Cerebro?" Beast looked at Grant. "What the devil have you unleashed?"

"I was able to recreate the process Xavier uses to run Cerebro digitally," explained Grant, looking down. "Someone had to. It is nowhere near as perfect as a telepath, and not anywhere near as fast. But if we need it, Cerebro is back in action."

Beast looked at Aurum in pure awe. "You may be a lot smarter than you give yourself credit. Thank you for this."

The boy just smiled. "I'm just happy it worked to be honest."

Back outside the mansion, things were still moving smoothly. As smoothly as a group of mutants could make it anyway.

Ava carried heavy things with her control over wind, but every few minutes, she looked up towards Alex on the roof of the mansion. The boy was not wearing a shirt, so she felt almost like a perv staring at him, but she just couldn't help it...

She took to the skies and focused, causing wind to gather around the dish sitting on the ground. It took every bit of her concentration to stay both in the air and keep the dish in the air, but luckily, Storm was there to help if she was going to fall.

She rose to the roof, the dish in tow, and when she was sure was high enough, she focused on aiming the dish towards the roof.

But it was too much for her, and she dropped it just close enough. "Crap!"

"I got it!" Someone yelled from below. A purple bungee cord made of light, attached to the flagpole above it, appeared and grabbed the dish, snapping it up and preventing it from falling.

"Thanks, Spartan," Ava muttered, glad that he had saved the dish but upset that she hadn't been able to do it.

Alex had been watching the whole thing, and seeing her vulnerable side made him frown. He thought about her a lot, especially since Taryn wouldn't talk to him at all. He didn't like to see Ava that hurt.

Ava (with Storm's help this time) guided the dish to the roof and placed it right between Alex and Logan. She waved at them and then flew back to the ground, ready for her next task.

Alex sighed and thought for a long moment. "Logan, I, uh, need some advice."

"Advice?" asked Wolverine as he fiddled with the cords to connect to the dish. "'Bout what?"

"Well, um, you know... have you ever cared for someone?"

"Pliers."

Alex grabbed them from the toolbox and tossed them to him. "I, um, can't really express myself in front of girls. It just... it turns into mush. Have you ever like... been that in love?"

"Yeah, once," the man said, tightening a bolt. "Most beautiful bike I ever saw. I was so speechless that someone else bought her."

"Not wire-strippers. Pliers. Use your eyes, kid." He tossed them towards the boy before sighing.

"I just... I don't know if she feels the same way about me as I think I do about her."

Wolverine stood. "Look. Here's how I see it. I'd like to finish this job _before_ New Years. So if you don't tell her,_ I_ will."

Dynamo raised his hands in defense. "No... I'll figure out how to do it."

Logan turned away and smiled, just as a large crow flew in and nearly ran right into both of them. Alex watched it as it flew off, cawing as it went.

He looked down just in time to see both Tempest and Storm using wind currents to lift the replacement angel statue, the angel that usually sits on the top of the fountain.

She concentrated on moving it, but when she looked toward the roof, her mind was once again on Alex.

"Hey!" Storm exclaimed, swerving in mid-air to dodge the stone. "Watch it!"

"Sorry!" she said, helping the African woman place it directly on the top of the fountain. "I guess I'm distracted."

Storm created a circular rain cloud to fill up the fountain, and as soon as the basin was full, Ava guided her hand over the electronic panel that accessed Cerebro's systems. The fountain turned on as soon as the computer recognized her palm, water streaming up from the bottom and towards the top.

Ava once again guided her attention to Alex and Logan, her mind drifting along hazily.

"Looks good, don't you think?" asked Storm, breaking her reverie as she hovered in front of the girl.

"Yeah," she said dreamily, before realizing she hadn't been talking about the fountain.

Storm turned and a hint of a smile stretched across her face. "You and Alex have grown quite close this year."

Ava smiled, looking down. "Yeah... We've been through a lot together, and we've been there for each other. Sure, he can be a bone-head sometimes, but what man isn't?"

Storm laughed. "That may be true, but he has a good heart. You two have worked together quite a few times, helping the team and each other. You may be a lot closer to him than you even realize."

Ava blushed, before figuratively kicking herself for blushing. "But it's more complicated than that."

Storm knew she was referring to Tristan, who Ava was loosely dating. "I can't tell you what to do, and I can't exactly avoid the cliché when I say this, but follow your heart. Do what you need to do to be happy, whatever that may be."

Ava smiled, thankful for the advice.

* * *

><p>Alex walked through the hall, his mind going a mile a minute. He was walking so fast that he nearly ran right into Ava, the person he had wanted to talk to for what seemed like forever.<p>

"Oh, hey," he said. "Sorry for nearly running into you."

"It's okay," Ava assured him. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Oh, um, it can wait. What did you want to talk about?" Alex asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

But before Ava could answer, Alex's phone suddenly rang, firing off one of Justin Beiber's newest songs. Ava had to fight not to revoke his man card right then, but she just rolled his eyes.

Alex answered the phone quickly. "Hello?" There was a pause.

And then another. Ava wished that she could hear the other side of the conversation.

"Wait!" he cried out, just as the phone cut off.

The look on his face... He was terrified. Bewildered. Confused. More than ever, Ava wished that she had Xavier's telepathy, because it hurt to see him so hurt.

"What's wrong?" she asked, putting her hand on his shoulder.

Without warning, he shrugged her off. "Nothing. I... um, I've got to go. I-I'll talk to you later."

Alex stormed out of the room, grabbing his keys from his pocket.

"Wait!" Ava yelled after him, but soon enough, he was on his bike and riding off the grounds.

She made to take off, to fly after him.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Logan began. "He's got a look on 'im I've seen many times on myself. Give him some space. He'll come back soon."

"What's wrong with him? I just... don't understand."

"Maybe you aren't meant to," Logan added. "Sometimes, a man has to do what a man has to do. On his own. His own way. I'm not sure what's going on, but he needs to do this himself. He'll come around. I promise."

Ava's head turned away, her mind shooting from one direction to the next with worry and confusion. She headed inside absent-mindedly, and Logan frowned.

"Did she let him down?" asked Storm, touching down beside him.

"Not sure," Logan said honestly. "I kinda wish we hadn't told 'em to get a room though."

Storm grinned. From anyone else, that statement would have been rude and crass, but from Logan, she could accept it. "We've been trying to steer them together from behind the scenes for weeks. Are you starting to think it was a bad idea?"

Logan grumbled, "Adults should never play Cupid."

Storm laughed.

* * *

><p>Several hours had passed and he had driven what felt like thousands of miles. The Appalachians surrounded him as he passed the Virginia state line, and pines blended into oaks and maples. The sky did seem bluer here.<p>

Alex took a deep breath and then exhaled. What did all of this mean? It... didn't seem possible. It was almost as impossible as hearing Xavier's voice in the new version of Cerebro.

Dynamo wasn't crazy. It just... wasn't possible. He had practically caused it himself, and he'd never really forgiven himself for it either.

Now, here he was, only minutes away from a coffee shop that meant so much to him. He passed over the final hill and saw it up ahead.

The closer he approached, the easier he could see why this place was special. On the side of the road were two crosses, each bearing the name of his father and mother, respectively.

On bad days, Alex wondered if his own name should be featured there too. On especially bad days, he felt like a part of him died that day with them.

He frowned as he passed them and headed into the coffee shop parking lot. Alex had always thought it strange for this place to even exist, since it was right by the highway. But again, things happen.

He pulled the bike to a stop and then got off quickly, sat his helmet on the bike and looked around.

There.

A woman, waving at him.

A woman he'd never expected to see again. He knew it should have been impossible, but apparently, it wasn't.

He'd seen some crazy things in his lifetime, and part of him wondered if this was more of that Acolyte Valkyrie's work. Could it have been her? Or was this all some kind of hallucination.

"Alexander!"

The voice seemed to carry all the way across the parking lot. Alex could barely comprehend any of this.

When he heard his mother's soft, sweet whisper on the phone, he'd nearly had a heart attack. Alex wished he hadn't ran out on Ava and the others, but it was too much too soon for him to even think about talking to anyone but the woman before him.

The woman was running over to him. The woman who had his mother's soft blond, curly hair. The woman who had the same smile, the same eyes.

The logical part of Alex's mind was wiped away as soon as he knew it was his mother.

"Mom!" he questioned, running up to her and hugging her tightly. She even felt the same as he did.

It was impossible.

Right?

* * *

><p>The three girls, especially Ava, were pacing the room as they were more and more wrought with worry. Camille was doing anything to keep her mind at ease and Rivera was trying to calm both Ava and her the entire time.<p>

Grant was thinking with Beast about what it could have been, and Kris was absently pulling at the seat below him.

"I have no idea what's going on," the Japanese mutant groaned.

"Neither do we," Rivera answered, snapping at him.

**[If I might make a suggestion.]**

"Nope," Camille explained.

She was still angry with Grant after the big reveal not too long ago. Grant had told the other students about his modifications to Cerebro, the new operating system for every device in the mansion, including the namesake device.

"What did you have in mind, Cerebro?" asked Kris, willing to try anything. He had handled the news of Xavier's voice well, but he didn't exactly feel... right about it. Happy about it. It was a weird replica, not a full-blown thing.

**[I can scan for Alex's whereabouts, but it will take quite some time.]**

Grant suddenly perked up. "No it won't. Track his cell phone, Cerebro!"

**[As you wish.]**

The voice died away for about thirty seconds before making a sound that was oddly like clearing his throat. A projector slid away from the wall and projected a hologram of a map. A dot was placed on the map, but Beast noticed something off about it.

"That's here, in the mansion," the animal-like man said.

"Damn," Ava complained, before getting a stern look from Storm. "Left it here, I guess."

"Go ahead and find him, Cerebro," Grant said.

The hologram died away. **[As you wish. Estimated time of completion: eighteen hours, forty-two minutes.]**

Ava groaned. Beast simply thought about it for a moment before sighing. "Well, that's almost fifteen times slower than Xavier, but we'll work with what we have. Besides that, I don't think anything bad has happened to him, so I wouldn't worry."

Telling them not to worry was definitely making them worry.

* * *

><p>Alex drummed his fingers on the table excitedly, nervously. He tried very hard not to think too much about it, in case this was all somehow a big joke, but it really did feel like his mother. The smell of her perfume, the sound of her voice; it was all the same. How could it not be her?<p>

The woman stepped out of the bathroom, and Alex studied her for a second. She noticed him and gave him a halfway smirk, an expression that he surely missed.

She sat down across from the boy and then took his hand within hers. They didn't say anything for a good moment before Alex finally spun out of control with his questions.

"How? Is Dad okay? Where have you been? What have you been doing?" He had a thousand more, but the woman's face grew more and more solemn. He knew then and there that the second question was the one she was still thinking about.

"Honey, your dad didn't make it. He really did die that night."

Alex gulped, letting that hope fade away. It was as though he had lost his father again.

She hesitated just long enough for the waitress to bring out their coffee, and the check. Almost immediately, the woman looked down in surprise.

"Oh, no! Let me run to my car real fast, my purse-"

"No, I'll get it!" Alex shot up, glad to be doing something productive to use some of the nervous energy. And to be doing something for his mom again. She nodded and thanked him as he ran outside, towards her vehicle, parked nearly around the back of the restaurant.

Alex touched the door to open it when a high-pitched squeal suddenly hit his ears. It was faint and yet overwhelming, and the young mutant clutched at his head in pain. He was forced onto his knees as the sound grew louder and louder, and it seemed like forever when he realized that there was a blue light travelling with the sound.

Blue light? Sound?

Great.

He scoured the area with his mind, his healing factor working with him to help lessen the blow. He knew exactly who was doing this, and why they chose now he hadn't a clue. All he knew was that he had a fighting chance as long as Winter Rose or Creator weren't here with Cieco.

When he was sure he had the source in the back of his mind, he extended a palm and fired a huge cannon-bolt shaped ball of plasma-like green energy. It collided with a car on another parking lot, and as soon as it did, the sound stopped.

Car alarm? The sound manipulating mutant was using the car alarm against him from a distance away from the car itself... That was smart.

Whatever he did, he had to protect his mother. He was not going to lose her again.

He heard a light pop from somewhere to his left. He spun around and fired another blast, this time shocking one of the patrons of the cafe, who started to run from the 'mutant-freak' attacking them.

Dynamo stood and guarded the door, ready for more long-range sound attacks. A blue wave of light approached, moving at a speed he would not be able to counter.

Alex screamed and was driven to his knees as three things happened simultaneously: his eardrums burst, every pane of glass in the immediate area shattered (including the shop), and his mother's voice asking him what was happening.

"Stay out of this, Mom. I'll protect you." He shooed her away, firing a two-palmed green beam of light at the source of the sound wave. The yard exploded, creating a twenty-foot crater in a clearing across the street.

He felt the drag of low energy begin to take effect, but he pushed that away from him. That was too much to worry about right now.

Another sound wave, this time from the branches of a tree in a field to his right, headed right for the building. He flicked his finger and fired a quick, small shot of green energy to try to intercept it, but it didn't do anything.

The entire right side of the coffee shop split open, the wood splintering and cracking under the resonance of enhanced bird-chirping. The crowd poured out, screaming and clutching bleeding ears. Cieco was a difficult mutant to deal with, and Dynamo had not the slightest idea where he could be; he was fortunate that his healing factor continually worked to repair his burst eardrum.

"Alex!" the voice of his mother yelled, sounding very much in trouble.

The mutant student turned and gasped. His mother was floating a few inches off the ground, both of her arms spread as wide as she could, her head drooping. She hovered across the floor to him, screaming that something was wrong. Something that shouldn't be happening to her.

"Mom! What's going on?"

He suddenly heard a laugh. A laugh from the voice of a little girl. A blond girl that could be no older than eleven stepped around the corner of the now falling shop, holding her arms in front of her and twiddling her fingers. Before Alex could do anything, his mother moved towards her and was now being used as a puppet-shield hovering between them.

"Let her go!" Alex screamed, scared once more for the life of his mother, who had mysteriously reappeared after being dead for years now.

"I don't think we will," the little manipulative mutant said in a sing-song voice. Cieco appeared next to her, a blind boy who could manipulate sound for such destructive ends that not even Xavier could have tallied.

"What do you want with her?" Alex yelled, his hands glowing with pure green energy. The fury of what they were doing or could do to his mom... it was like a boiling rage and spots appeared again and again in his vision.

"Her?" asked Enzo. "We don't want her. We want you."

"Why?"

"Because," the little girl said matter-o-factly, "we need you to access something for us." She picked something from her jacket pocket and offered it to Alex. "This should have all the instructions for what you'll need to do, and where you'll need to meet us by sundown tomorrow. Take care to do so by then, or your mother will not exactly have an easy night."

Alex had to fight not to fight right now. He knew as well as anyone that what Cieco could do to a person's body was irreversible. He and Logan were some of the only people who could recover from that, and he did not want his mother to have to suffer the same damage. It would kill her... again.

He met his mother's eyes.

Compassion. Love. Trust. Respect.

Everything he'd ever wanted to see again from either of his parents after the car crash was in that look. Every one of those emotions and qualities shone brightly within her too colorful eyes.

Immediately, he powered down and took the envelope from Chess's hand. The girl smirked as he accepted the offer, knowing he had no choice.

"Cieco, make sure doesn't follow us."

The sound manipulator took one look at Alex before clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. A split-second later, his hands were moving in a certain formation, causing the sound to be repulsed in a display of blue light. The pure concussive force plowed into Alex's body, causing him to go flying halfway across the parking lot and nearly black out.

The pain was excruciating. His vision was fading in and out, his shoulder dislocated and one of his spinal discs squeezed almost to nothing. He weakly bent down to see his entire torso and shoulder glowing with a faint green hue, almost like he was irradiated as the healing process began once more.

As soon as he thought he could move, he pushed himself up and tried to stand, but the group of Mesmero's gang, as well as their hostage, was gone. In its place were a group of disgruntled citizens, staring at the mutant from fifty yards away stunned and impossibly disgusted.

Families sat together, little kids clutching their parents in fear of the glowing mutant that had taken part in destroying property, land, and the coffee shop itself. The shop owner was pacing around the damaged area, trying to make himself believe that it wasn't that bad, while cursing his entire species and screaming at him in disbelief.

Damn.

* * *

><p>Both the older and younger students definitely thought something was seriously wrong with Alex after he hadn't come in before dark. It was now nearing midnight, and Ava had had enough with just about everyone.<p>

After Logan's training session on the temporary obstacle course was an utter failure without Alex, who had proven to be a key part of their group dynamic. Ava couldn't make proper decisions with the loss on their mind, and it ended up just being a complete mess.

"Well, damn, Logan, we're bound to be distracted! Our friend ran out on us!" Ava had argued.

Logan just looked at her for a moment, before getting in her face. "Last time I checked, big girl, _you're_ their leader. Not Alex. If he's so important to the team, maybe I should make him leader instead. Because you are_ clearly_ not the right person for the job if you can't handle him not bein' here!

"What if Alex had died like Xavier? What if his absence was permanent? What would you do then? Would you make shitty mistakes like you did tonight, distractions that could have been avoided? Or would you man up like the mature adult you seem to want to be and make your own _damn_ decisions?"

Everyone had watched the two of them in silence, and Logan stormed away from the backyard, leaving them to figure it out themselves.

Ava had simply not expected it. Kris had seen Logan getting onto Ava for her attitude earlier than this, and he almost made a bet with Alex a few months back for when Logan would just snap. Camille and Rivera were speechless, and Grant had no clue if he should side with Ava or Logan.

Nevertheless, all of them missed Alex for finding ways to relieve the tension in a room or to add humor to everything. They missed his incessant chip-munching. They missed him hogging all of the television time, or seeing him weaving in and out of traffic with his motorcycle while the others were stuck in Ava's convertible.

Ava finally got tired of waiting. She walked over to a panel for Cerebro and placed her palm above it. "Cerebro, have you gotten any closer to finding Alex?"

**[I am nearing forty percent completion now, but due to a recent fluctuation of his powers, I should be done a little bit sooner.]**

"Fluctuation of his powers?" asked Ava. "What's that mean?"

**[It appears that Alex has activated, and used extensively, his powers for a few moments earlier this morning, but it will only speed up the process of triangulating his location. I cannot find it altogether at this point.]**

She sighed. The tech lingo was something she just didn't understand at all. "When do you think you can?"

**[Perhaps early tomorrow morning, but perhaps not?]**

Ava rolled her eyes. She was glad that while the machine now had Xavier's voice, he didn't have Xavier's telepathy; there was no way Cerebro could read her mind and hear the rude thoughts she was hearing.

* * *

><p>He awoke, stretching his entire body and causing his head to smash into the headboard.<p>

He cursed and wished he could have stayed in a nicer place, but that was all the money he had with him.

Alex had crashed in a small town just outside of Philadelphia that night after reading the contents of the letter. He'd driven nonstop with thoughts of his mother on the brain, quickly finding the nearest and cheapest place to stay so he could focus on what he was being tasked to do.

He took another deep breath and pulled the black mask from the bag on the table. He slipped it inside of his front coat pocket and then frowned.

What was he about to do? Why was he going to do it? He felt... conflicted. Torn. Ripped to shreds.

Her smile. Her eyes. Her laugh.

His mother was waiting for him to save her. To do whatever it is they wanted me to do.

The others at the Institute wouldn't approve. Xavier would have given him a lecture about morality, if he were alive today. Logan would have pitched in, but the Canadian mutant would have also sympathized with him; he was not looking forward to that conversation when he got back. Ororo would have tried to counsel him through the grief and the self-loathing, but she would not have approved of his actions at all.

And Ava...

He sighed.

Ava would have smacked him around a bit. But after a while, she would come and apologize and they would hug and everything would be all right.

In fact, nothing quite felt right without her. Out of all the people in the world, past or present, her opinion was the most important. What would she think of me after all is said and done? Would she understand that he had to do what he had to do, in order to save his mother's life?

* * *

><p>"He's coming," Enzo suddenly said, pointing to the east.<p>

Lillian poked her head over the ledge on the nearby roof, watching where the blind mutant was pointing. "Yep. There he is."

A few moments passed as she watched the motorcycle head into an alley way nearby, only a few blocks from the target.

"You know, Chess, I was wondering something," Enzo said aloud, "Couldn't we do this ourselves? I mean, we have the power. Between me, Ashley, and Zachary, we could-"

"Well, you probably could, but where's the fun in that?"

* * *

><p>Alex pulled on the mask and left his bike, disguising it with a sheet from a nearby dumpster. He took a deep breath, and in the darkness just before dawn, he headed straight towards the building.<p>

Philadelphia was not as busy as he had expected. He hurried through the streets, only a block and a half away from the destination. As soon as he saw the grand, red-brick building, he couldn't help but frown at what he was about to do.

He honestly wasn't sure he could do it. But he had to, for his mother's sake.

After a mere second of hesitation, the memory of his mom's face in sheer terror flickered into his mind. It washed that doubt away, and for a moment, he had a surreal sense of certainty.

He hopped the fence as fast as Logan's training could teach him, the shadows of the building obscuring him from sight. If anyone was even looking.

Cameras were most likely watching his every move, but he kept his mind focused on his target. There was no way they could identify him.

The instructions were fresh in his mind, telling him where to go and how to get there undetected.

He crossed the courtyard, dodging a guard by keeping low. Alex tried the door to the tower, but it was locked naturally. Using as little energy as possible, he shot the lock open with a green flash and then bounded up the spiral stairs quietly.

He opened the trapdoor and stepped through it. It only took one look before he began to feel sorry for what was about to happen.

The huge, stone and brass bell was a symbol for freedom, for independence, and for American history. It had a crack, a crack that went through the inscription which was too dark to see at this point. The instructions were clear on what to do in order for him to get his mother back.

Destroy the Liberty Bell.

Because it wouldn't be long before mutants were denied the basic freedoms that other humans received from the Bill of Rights.

Alex's hands began to shine with green light, an aura of sorts flickering around them both. The chamber was filled with eerie green light, lighting the words, "Pass and Stow," on the side of the Bell.

Another moment of doubt rang true, but his mother's life was on the line.

He fired. It was only a quick shot. A quick flash of light that had enough force to move the huge object. It swayed once, ringing the Bell loudly one last time, like a scream before death. The entire thing shattered under the concussive energy blast.

Immediately, he regretted it. But he didn't have time to worry. Alex had to get out of there, before the authorities arrived.

* * *

><p>Dynamo caught up to Mesmero's lackeys just outside of the city. The entire place was now swarming with police and government officials, and he didn't want to be caught in the city.<p>

"I honestly can't believe that you did it," Chess said, her fingers holding his mother bound behind Cieco. "You betrayed your country, your honor, and your entire belief system for that. Wow."

"I didn't think you had the balls," Cieco said quite frankly. "It took guts to do what you did."

Alex could have spat on both of them. "I didn't do it for you. I did it for her."

His mother's eyes twinkled for a moment, before she forced herself to shut them, not proud of what he had done. Alex couldn't blame her.

"Give her to me. Now."

"You want her?" Cieco said in a threatening tone, before suddenly cracking a smirk. "Here you go."

Lilian broke her hold on the woman. Immediately, Alex's mother raced towards him. The two embraced, thankful to have each other again.

But something felt off. Something huge. He had shut his eyes to relish the moment, but as soon as he opened them, the young mutant knew something was wrong.

He pulled away, looking down and seeing the blue skin. The red hair. The tight leather uniform.

Damn.

Green light flashed out of his hands before he could do anything else. The shapeshifter known as Mystique, who had apparently been broken out of Area 51 and who apparently was working with Mesmero now, was blasted off of her feet and into both of the younger enemy mutants.

"What the hell? Mystique, I'll kill you! Right now!" Energy surged from his hands, a green bolt of killing intent.

The three opposing him split up to evade it, his attack instead blowing up against a hill top nearby. Mystique smirked.

"I should have tricked you into being captured by the military goons who are no doubt going to be looking for a mutant of your description," said the shape shifter. "But based on your face right now, I think you've been emotionally tricked well enough."

The other two laughed and were about to attack him when thunder boomed across the sky, masking the approach of the jet. Alex looked up to see Ava jumping from the Blackbird and into the air, lighting crackling from her hands. "Stay away from him!"

An amaranth arc of energy shot from the sky and exploded right in the middle of the three manipulative mutants, throwing two of them on their backs and scorching the shape-shifter's arm.

"Cieco, let's get out of here!" Chess shouted.

The blind mutant clapped, before moving his arms in such a way that the sound of his clap was amplified. It was then twisted into an attack that shoved the jet several yards and forced Ava to the ground, and Alex on his knees.

Mystique looked at the boy she had helped emotionally defeat before turning into a small mouse and scattering from the scene. The two members of Mesmero's Ring-Masters ran on foot as far away as they could get, and disappeared into the woods.

* * *

><p>The ride back to the Institute was quiet after Alex explained what had happened to the Liberty Bell. Ororo and Ava were thankfully the only ones on board, but neither one knew how to take that information just yet with the signs of him so emotionally defeated.<p>

Tempest looked into his hurt, tearful eyes and wanted to help. "Are you okay?" She put her hand on his shoulder, tightening it as comfortingly as she could. He let the good, soothing feeling wash over him.

But the boy just shoved her away after that initial moment. "I don't want to talk about it."

The tension was palpable. Ororo frowned, wishing that this whole thing had only been due to a boy's nervousness to accept his feelings. Instead, the events that transpired over the last few hours had forced those feelings down. Alex didn't want help from the one person who wanted to give it, probably because deep down, he felt like he couldn't love someone if they were just going to leave him. Seeing the person he thought to be his mother again must have brought that feeling, that doubt to the center of his mind.

She wished she could do more for him. But the boy needed some time, and when he was ready to really talk about what happened, both Ororo and Ava would be there for him.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, so I hope that this wasn't as shitty as I feel like it was. If it was, I'm sorry, but my life has been very hectic lately. I did have a little bit of trouble finding a way to adapt Blind Alley, and hopefully, I added my own spin to the events that still felt like the original episode. Plus, the whole, breaking the Liberty Bell thing will come up again soon. <strong>

**Please, review! Let me know what you think! And check out my Avatar fic, Hollow World! **


	45. Xtreme Measures: Bittersweet Nightmare

_**X-Treme Measures:  
>Bittersweet Nightmare<strong>_

The building was extremely impressive, and in the middle of seemingly nowhere no less. It was made of white marble stone with black accents, and the entire thing seemed a lot richer than anticipated. On the side of the building was a large sign with the words, "Essex Laboratories."

Finally, they found it. The location of the murderous bastards. The place of their revenge.

Prometheus stepped from the vehicle, prompting Urchin and Wraith to do the same. He was glad that he didn't have to see Adriana or Jessie leave that car, because they didn't need to be here for this. The Morlocks didn't have much firepower, but both of them would get in the way of those that do.

"This is it?" asked Urchin in the abrupt way she always did. Her skin immediately began to sprout barbs sharper than most stone, her anger literally pouring into her skin.

"Yes. Caliban was certain they were here," explained Adam, the leader who looked a lot like Frankenstein's monster.

Wraith stared at the building and grinned, his powers reacting just like Barbara's had. His invisible aura of anger was flaring up, influencing anyone present. "It makes me so angry that those Marauders got away from us at all. We had them down in the sewers for weeks!"

"William," Prometheus said in a warning tone. Almost immediately, Wraith's powers calmed down, and so did the other two.

"Sorry."

"No worries," Barbara said, reaching to pat him on the back. He flinched away, not wanting to be hit by one of the barbs growing on the back of her hand. "What?"

"It doesn't matter if the Marauders escaped us or not. The point is that we have to get them back, or at least confirm that they are here." The leader pointed at the building. "We're going to go in. Quietly. If it looks like it could be a problem, then we'll leave immediately. Understood?"

The two of them nodded.

The three Morlocks moved away from the car and approached the building, hiding in plain sight from the cameras watching. They were used to being feared for their appearance and hunted for their blood, so it was almost like hiding was implanted in their genetics.

Prometheus arrived at the wall first, touching the cool marble and frowning as the memories of the material flooded into his mind via his psychometric abilities. He immediately knew who had been here, who this building belonged to, and what had happened inside. It was an astounding piece of information, information of tortures that he just didn't want to see.

But thankfully, he knew what the object was made of. And that was a powerful thing to his own abilities. For a split second, a pale yellow light emerged from his hand, hit the marble wall, and spread out a few feet until there was a loose circle.

Immediately, that section of wall turned from marble to water, his own energy dropping in the process.

Barbara would never stop thinking that was cool.

The three of them headed inside carefully, avoiding the cameras when needed. Every few feet, Prometheus would touch the wall or a door knob to feel its memories and learn where to avoid.

He pointed ahead, gesturing to both Wraith and Urchin. They knew what the signal meant: that way, into that supply closet.

Urchin yanked at one of the barbs on her palm, breaking it off as easily as pulling out a hair. She inserted it into the doorknob and after a few seconds, the lock unlocked. Being a natural lockpick helped in a lot of occasions, especially when the Morlock was on a mission to "borrow" food.

They shuffled inside and then shut the door, locking it behind them.

"What's a closet going to do?" asked Wraith.

Prometheus pointed at the wall in front of him, ducking under a light bulb on the low ceiling. Barbara seemed to sense what he was going to do.

"You sure, Adam? Do you have another one in you?"

All the Morlocks knew that Adam's ability to transmute the elements was bordering on the divine, and it had a huge cost for him. He'd been in a coma before just from using the ability to turn a pencil into a tiny bit of kerosene, enough to power one of the heat lamps during a particularly cold winter a few years back.

The monstrous mutant nodded and knelt before the far wall. He touched it, memorizing its memories and composition, the details forming like an equation in his mind. The light spread from his hand again, almost like an oozing liquid, and the section of wall immediately began to give way as it turned from drywall into gelatin, enough to see through.

Adam pulled his palm away and cursed, his mind swimming and his body seemingly breaking down momentarily. He had to fight past it, because no matter how tough Barb thought she was, she couldn't drag his huge frame back out through the base the way they came, and especially not without getting caught.

"You okay?" asked Wraith, usually a silent guy.

Adam nodded, although neither of the other two were so sure. "I will be. The hole should be wide enough for us to see what is happening in the next room."

* * *

><p><em>The house was beyond creepy, the type of house people crossed the street just to pass bye. Rickety fence, overgrown lawn, broken and boarded-up windows, faded dark wood. <em>

_She shuddered and tried to go the long way around, in order to avoid it. She wasn't sure where she was headed, she just wanted to go anywhere but there. _

_But then something caught her eye. A flash of gold in the upstairs window. Normally, she might have been too afraid to even consider stopping to stare. But something about that flicker was too curious to avoid. It reminded her of something horrible. Something that she shouldn't even have to think about. _

_She found herself heading toward it, the tension mounting in every step. She wanted to slow down, but her body wouldn't let her. She continued her almost fast-walking pace until she was at the front door, still confused and still scared. _

_She didn't bother to knock, as though her body was on auto-pilot. There was something weird going on, but she couldn't quite figure out why she didn't seem to have control over herself. _

_The door opened for her, creaking in all the expected ways, on its own. She shuddered before venturing into the frightening home. _

_It didn't slam shut, almost like she had expected. But a cool breeze seemed to pour from the open door causing a shiver to overtake her whole body. _

_The gold flashed again, just at the top of the stairs, underneath a door. She felt like someone had left her on autopilot, and she couldn't fight it. _

_The stairs were creaking under her every movement, and she wondered vainly if she was truly that overweight. But her ponderings were cut off when she suddenly found herself in another room, the door slamming shut behind her. _

_The girl shuddered from the feeling before looking around. _

_Her eyes widened. _

_In front of her was a boy, a very familiar boy with stark golden skin. He was shirtless and sitting in a chair, and someone had tied him up completely. The light reflected off of his golden skin to the point where the shadows extended throughout the room. _

_"Grant! Grant! What's going on? What happened?"_

_The boy didn't move. In fact, he didn't seem to be moving at all. It was as though he were frozen in mid-sentence. She moved to his side, kneeling in front of him to examine. _

_A trickle of blood dripped from his mouth, in bright contrast with the metallic yellow of his lips. _

_She wanted to scream, but no sound would come out. It was like something was gripping her throat, unable to let go. _

_She was going to try to turn and get help when someone suddenly stepped out of the shadows, the bright flash of a knife dripping with blood catching her attention. _

_Her mouth dropped open when she realized who it was. _

_She turned to run, but as she did, she smacked straight into a mirror, her reflection bouncing off and rubbing her head. But as she did, the reflection suddenly twisted of its own accord and smiled. _

_Then it pulled out its own knife and stabbed forward, eliciting a scream from the original. Or was it the reflection? _

Rivera awoke from the nightmare, the nightmare she had had twice before. She screamed into her pillow, freaking out and sweat pouring from her body. She looked wearily over to Camille, her roommate, who had fallen asleep reading a French novel; she was glad that she had not woken up her friend and headed outside, not wanting anyone to know what was really going on.

For once, Maya and Chayce, the voices inside her head, were silent.

She didn't know if that was a bad thing or a good thing, but she wished that Xavier were here to help her find out. And not the cheap imitation that her boyfriend had built.

Rivera headed into the bathroom, glad that no one was using it. It took her several minutes to calm down, her adrenal gland working hard from the sheer fright of the nightmare. She gripped the desk hard, afraid to use her powers although she didn't quite understand why.

She looked from the sink and stared at her reflection, pondering the image before her. Was it really her, or was this just Maya or Chayce messing with her mind?

She had no definite answers, but she needed to find some. And she knew exactly where to look.

* * *

><p>Adam had finally recovered enough after using his alchemical powers, looking through the window-like gelatin with Urchin and Wraith. His head was swimming with memories of the wall, screams of agony from the atoms that didn't want to be forcefully changed into something that they clearly weren't.<p>

The inside of the next room was clearly a laboratory, the laboratory of the infamous leader of the Marauders. Nathaniel Essex, aka Mister Sinister. Or just Sinister.

Desks, tables, measurement charts, grand computers, and glowing instruments filled the lab. It was literally filled with nothing that the Morlocks could identify, although if Prometheus could get his hands on anything, he could probably figure it all out. Or at least what it was made of.

No one was in the lab right then, but their attention was brought to these five tall glowing blue tubes with various wires and machines attached to them. Whatever was inside was filled with a dark liquid, murky enough that only a shadow was visible. Each one was of a similar size, and whatever they were couldn't be good.

"What's inside those things?" asked Wraith, confused, before rubbing his temple. "I can feel... something from them. But it's... too foreign to understand." He paused for another moment. "It's, um, similar to what a fetus feels like inside the womb. Primitive, nonliving emotions... It's like these things, whatever they are, are alive and yet not."

Urchin looked at the mutant like he was from a different planet. "That doesn't make _any_ sense."

Adam understood more than Barbara did. "Wraith is saying that they could be unborn infants. Whatever that means, it can't be good."

Barbs grew along the women's arm, and she gestured to them. "Should I take them out?"

Adam shook his head. "No. Even if you had perfect accuracy from here, you'd leave a trace that we were here with your barbs. Sinister would find us in a heartbeat, and we could be dealing with another massacre. Our numbers are already very low, and I don't think we could fight them off this time."

"Are you saying we should leave?" asked Wraith.

Adam nodded. "Yes. Let's get out of here. We know where he is, and maybe we can do something about it later."

The three nodded and understood, although Urchin was upset about having to miss out on a possible fight. Carefully, they exited the room and headed down the hall, going back the exact route they left.

But just as they turned the last corner, Wraith paused, feeling aggression nearby. From behind a closed door, a woman in her early twenties smirked before snapping her hands together.

A pink burst of light and a huge wave of energy erupted from her body, aimed directly towards the three Marauders. Prometheus's eyes widened and without warning, he lunged forward.

The pink energy slammed into his body, producing enough force to shove him against the now-dented wall and breaking several ribs.

"No! Adam!" Urchin screamed, her barbs growing instantly.

The monstrous mutant shook his head, pointing towards the door. "Go! Now! Save yourself!"

Arclight, the female Marauder who could emit shockwaves of energy, smiled as she heard the cliche statement. "Oh, come on. Does that ever actually work?"

Urchin snapped her wrist in the mutant's direction before turning and running out of the front door, dragging Wraith along for the ride. The barb was fired so quickly that it erupted from the Marauder's shoulder, almost like an arrow from a bow.

"Damn! She's not as bad as I thought," Arclight commented before walking toward the Morlock leader. "You, on the other hand, are quite useless in a fight, if I remember correctly. But Sinister has other means for you, don't worry. Oh, and don't worry either about us going after your friends... We already know where your tunnels are, and that is more than enough."

* * *

><p>"I still don't understand why you two wanted to come with me."<p>

Rivera, Grant, and Camille were walking steadily through the streets, looking for a specific spot.

"Why wouldn't I come?" asked Grant. "The Morlocks are fascinating."

Rivera shot him a look that made him gulp.

Camille nudged him in the side, before whispering, "You're here to support her too, remember? She's really freaking out about her dreams. Get your head out of the science book."

"Oh, right," he said a little louder. He was about to answer but Rivera just shrugged it off.

"Don't worry, it's all right. I heard her." She looked at the street sign and then smiled. "Look, this is where Reese said he and the others found them, right? Right underneath us?"

Camille nodded. "Yep. Jackie said it was at the corner of Lee and Kirby."

Grant pondered that a bit. "Why do those names sound familiar?"

The three of them entered the sewer from the manhole cover, heading down the ladder. As they did, Camille decided that once they were on the pathway, it was as good a time as any to ask.

"Hey, Rivera, what is it about the dreams that freaked you out so much? I mean, it seemed scary, but it could have just been a normal nightmare."

The duplicating girl took one long look at Grant, long enough to communicate an idea to Camille silently. "It's.. just that the feeling was too real, too frightening. And this isn't the first time I've had the nightmare either, so I figured it was smart to try to figure it out." Her face grew solemn for a moment. "I wish that the Professor could be the one to help me figure it out."

They all did. Not only would it save them a trip through the dirty, underground sewers, but it would also make them feel totally better about this whole new world out there, a world of revelation.

"How much farther?" Grant asked after they had been walking through the murk for several turns now. "Rivera, can't you split up to search faster?"

The duplicating girl took one look at the two mutants and shook her head, after a single moment of ashamed hesitation. She was totally afraid of using her powers, afraid that the nightmare was relative to something going on in her own mind. What if her inner desire and her conscience turned on her as soon as she summoned them?

"Oh," Camille said. "I guess that, um, does make sense. It's not too much farther."

Just as she said it, they passed a tunnel that seemed to be catching voices from one end and spewing them through to the other end. The three took a deep breath and nodded, before heading down that tunnel.

When they emerged, they were inside the main Morlock bunker. It was a large storm shelter, built during the Cold War for the rich elite in the city so they could be safe in case of attack. It was stocked on one side with provisions, and the other sides each had a designation like bunks and living areas. The entire place looked as though it had once been very busy, a lot busier than it was, but there were still almost two dozen mutants, all of them so physically revolting that it was almost charming to Grant. And Rivera, by extension. Camille didn't really even see them and just complained about her shoes being ruined, despite how often she pulled the murk from the water with her powers.

Immediately, the tall, skinny mutant known as Caliban appeared before them, emerging from the crowd. "What brings you here, X-Men?"

There was no malice in his voice, or at least, not that Camille could tell. Although he seemed to not care for strangers too much, but at least he knew who they were.

Rivera took a deep breath. "I need... some help. Locating a mutant for me. See, Logan gave me a description of her, and said that this was my best bet. I just need to know where she is."

"And why should I help you? What do you have that others do not?"

"Bravery, compassion, success, love," Grant said, blushing on his last choice of words.

"A breath mint?" asked Camille, creating only a small smirk on the small-mouthed Caliban.

"Since you seem to have such dedicated friends, I will locate the mutant you seek. But at a price."

She handed the paper to him, but as she placed her hand back on her side, two suddenly ran right into the room, panting and screaming. Caliban didn't seem too surprised, not even a little bit; Rivera realized that the mutant probably knew his fellow Morlocks were coming.

"Sinister has Prometheus!" Urchin suddenly screeched, and immediately, every one of the Morlocks just stopped and stared ahead. There were varying reactions, but the insectoid mutant Adrianna burst into tears, comforted by Jessie.

"No! My Adam!" she screeched, her mouth clicking almost like some kind of beetle. The scarlet wings on her back seemed to flicker as though they were urging her to take flight.

The X-Men felt like outsiders, watching the family of mutants with less than desirable physical mutations react to the news that their leader was gone. For several minutes, many emotions were expressed but Rivera felt bad that she even had to see this.

Grant and his girlfriend shared a look, seemingly knowing what the other was thinking. "Um, Caliban, who's Sinister?" asked the boy.

The pale mutant's head hung low, his expression even more morose. "Mister Sinister and we Morlocks do not have a nice history."

"So he's not a good guy?" asked Camille. "We'll help you get your leader back! Right guys?"

Both Grant and Rivera nodded, although both were a little bit apprehensive. They still didn't know anything about the situation, but Urchin was more than freaked out. If the New Mutants' story was right, then seeing the barbed mutant so upset was definitely not good.

"We'd love to help you," Rivera said truthfully, almost glad for the distraction from her problems. But in the back of her mind, she wondered if she would even be helpful at all. She was too terrified to use her main ability.

* * *

><p>Prometheus was battered. He was bruised. He felt like his entire body was going to suffocate from the lack of energy. Adam had used his alchemical powers more than he ever should in one day, and he had a feeling that Sinister was going to make him use it again. For what purpose, he didn't know.<p>

He was completely secured in a tube not unlike those five containers that he and the others had observed in the lab earlier. In fact, if he considered it, he was probably in that lab, but turned away from those five mysterious... things.

His hands were bound, nothing touching his fingers or his palm, the conduit for his abilities. He had no room to move his legs. He was completely trapped.

Adam waited for several minutes before the door opened suddenly, creaking against the unwanted movement. He peeked up, surprised to see the mastermind himself.

Sinister was a tall man with impossibly gray skin, shining red eyes, and a coat that made him look too much like some kind of vampire. His armor stretched from his neck down, colored a deep blue color so that he nearly blended into the shadows. The gem on his forehead seemed to glisten in the faded light.

"Hello," the man greeted, his voice slimy and grim. "You must be Prometheus, a fitting name for a mutant such as you. Were you aware that you have a stark resemblance to the monster from Shelley's novel, _Frankenstein_? I suppose you would, as you are quite intelligent, but I was curious."

"Cut to the chase," Adam said meekly.

"Oh, a fiesty one, huh? That will not matter in a few moments, as you will most likely be too tired to think straight. You might even die, but I will do everything in my power to make sure that some part of you lives on. Never fear."

Adam grimaced at the insinuation, but he didn't let it show for longer than half a second.

Sinister walked over to a computer and pressed a sequence of keys, immediately stirring a response in the machine holding him. He was terrified of what this thing could be doing to him in a matter of moments.

"Don't worry, Morlock. The machine will simply force you to use your powers to help out a few... projects of mine."

Immediately, there was a shock of electricity and it poured through Adam's body, forcing him to scream out. His hands began to glow with strange light, flickering almost like the current that had just shocked him.

Without warning, something shot out and hit the palm of his hand, injecting into the upper layers of his skin. Adam tried to struggle, but there was nothing he could do as his blood was taken into a syringe.

The mutant torturing him then turned off the machine, allowing the Morlock to catch a break. He sighed and breathed heavily, wanting this whole thing to just be over. His hands stopped glowing just as Sinister smirked.

"That is exactly what we needed from you, Prometheus. Thank you for being such a willing patient."

Essex walked over to the machine and pulled something out, before showing it to Adam. It was a vial of blood, the blood emitting a light blue light that made the contents seem purple.

"What did you need my blood for?"

Essex smiled, before showing the mutant a beaker. A beaker full of water. "Add your blood to water, and then I'll have the means to create any kind of substance. To change one thing into another is a worthy aspiration, the truth to a historical movement for alchemy, and I think this will surely help one of my clients. I was having a bit of trouble with one, but no longer."

The mutant scientist smiled before walking around to his desk. He pulled something from a drawer, a tiny flask of something. "Watch this."

He took some of the blood from the vial with a dropper and added it to the small beaker of water. Another second passed as the water-blood mixture began to glow, even brighter than before. Sinister added one more liquid to the mixture before emptying the contents of the flask into the mixture.

The mutant walked over to Adam, showing the mutant the tiny beaker. A thin blond hair was sitting in the mixture, and within another moment, it suddenly transformed into a brilliant diamond thread.

Adam's eyes widened with shock, but he didn't have a chance to ask. There was a loud crash upstairs, followed by the reverberation of Arclight's shockwaves.

Sinister cursed under his breath and headed upstairs, hoping to squash this before it ever started.

* * *

><p>Camille leapt to the side to avoid one of the dreaded energy harpoons, but ended up hitting the wall at an awkward angle. Part of her shoulder melted, splattering against the wall and causing her to nearly vomit, but after a moment, her arm solidified.<p>

Harpoon's eyes widened at her mutation, before creating another projectile. He smirked before swinging his arm like a javelin thrower, launching the harpoon forward.

The mutant girl cursed, hating using her powers like this, and melted completely, her body and clothes turning into a puddle on the floor. The energy weapon passed harmlessly above her puddled body.

"Mmm, that's an interesting one you have there," Harpoon said, wondering. "Arclight, can you handle her?"

The female Marauder paused in her fight with Rivera and Grant, before turning toward Camille and slamming her hands together.

Another huge burst of energy left her body, purple light streaking right for the puddle mutant. Camille didn't have time to think as the wave of energy rushed over her body, picking the liquid up and splattering it against the wall directly behind her. The shockwave subsided only moments later.

Rivera gasped at Camille's situation and her concentration slipped, just long enough for the feral mutant named Hairbag to lunge at her, knocking the X-Woman to the ground.

"Rivera!" Grant scowled and stretched his two arms forward almost like rubber bands, aimed directly at the beastly Marauder. But without warning, the shockwave inducing mutant turned to him and unleashed her powers, throwing him backward as well. He smacked against the wall, his body nearly flattening from the impact.

Rivera coughed awake, realizing that the other two X-Men were down. And that she was the only one left; her ability to mimic movements was not going to help her here. That only left one thing.

Immediately, she shot to her feet. "Let's even the odds!" With a white flash, she summoned her clones Maya and Chayce. An unfamiliar pain wracked her skull for a sharp moment before fading away, and the two clones and her were able to resume the fight.

"Odds or not, you're not getting through my shockwaves!" Arclight exclaimed, clapping once more. Purple energy gathered and then pulsed like radiation, aimed towards all three clones and the two down X-Men behind her.

Without a half-second later, Maya laughed.

With sound.

She actually made a sound. Like she had a voice. Her clones did not have voices.

_What?_

The two clones clapped in the same manner as Arclight, and without warning, two identical but less powerful shockwaves rocketed forward. The three opposing forces collided in a massive explosion in mid-air, vibrating everything in the room. More of the force was blown backward and Arclight was blasted backward at least twenty feet.

Rivera tried to communicate with her clones mentally, as she had been able in the past. Nothing. What had they- she just done? Redirect an attack? Like Kris, but different? What?

The two remaining Marauders seemed surprised by the revelation, but not any more than Rivera herself.

"Let's see you mimic these!" Harpoon exclaimed, energy harpoons materializing and then firing straight at the X-Men.

Grant recovered from the momentary shock of this and stretched as fast as he could to try to help her. He was about to push the main Rivera out of the way when Maya and Chayce suddenly ran into the path of the harpoons. They made gestures with their arms, and just like before, an identical set of energy harpoons appeared and collided with the opposing ones, creating a firework like explosion.

"They're mirroring their attacks!" shouted Grant, getting out of the way of one of Hairbag's pounces.

Rivera froze at the mention of a mirror, reminded of her nightmare. What did this mean?

"It doesn't matter what she's doing," Harpoon explained. "It truly doesn't."

Chayce smiled a little awkwardly; Rivera called her the shy clone, and Maya was anything but. "Well, she doesn't have to do anything."

"Exactly," Maya exclaimed proudly. "Because we'll do it for her!"

At this point, both Grant and Rivera were just flabbergasted. Echo's powers weren't supposed to work this way; her clones weren't supposed to be able to speak, or laugh, or emote. They were supposed to be mentally linked with the original, and yet, that was gone.

What had happened to her powers? What had happened to her?

Maya and Chayce both immediately sped forward, hoping to finally take down Harpoon. Maya smirked as she saw an option open for her in the background, and nodded to Chayce.

The two Echoes immediately mimicked any attack that Harpoon made to cancel them out and rushed the man. He tried to find back-up with Arclight; the mirroring effect had taken her out. Hairbag was too busy trying to get out of Grant's snake-like squeezing. So he had no reinforcements.

Maybe Sinister would come to his rescue.

As if.

* * *

><p>Essex passed through the hallways confidently, not a care in the world. After all, who could stop him? He was one of the most powerful people on the planet, both financially and physically. Even more so mentally; if he was able to "work his magic," he'd be even more powerful mentally in only a few short weeks.<p>

So what did Sinister have to fear?

He rounded the corner and smiled. Definitely not these.

In front of him were two Morlocks, the two that he had found on the security footage alongside Prometheus. If he remembered correctly, they named themselves Urchin and Wraith.

"Stop right there and tell us where Adam is!" Urchin shouted, her barbs shooting through her skin almost like quills on a porcupine.

Sinister rolled his eyes, and immediately, his anger began to flare up in response. Odd; he was usually in control of himself.

Then sadness. Sorrow. Defeat. He wasn't one of the weaker forms of humanity, but he knew what sadness was. He could push past the feeling, the alien feeling of manipulation.

"An empath," Sinister explained, somewhat impressed. "You can control the limbic system of others through a pheromone. Interesting stuff, but pointless." Wraith practically started to whimper himself.

"Let our leader go and we'll let you go," explained Barbara, trying again.

Essex just stood there. It started to make her furious, and the craving for vengeance that she had tried to hold back immediately burst to the surface.

She suddenly ran forward, screaming bloody murder. This man was responsible for the massacre of so many mutants, and now, he was going to pay. She felt Wraith give him a boost of adrenaline-enhanced anger, and she reveled in the feeling.

Sinister held up his palm calmly and twisted it downward, repulsing a beam of red energy. Barbara was shocked but her battle reflexes managed to kick in and they were the only thing that saved her.

She twisted in the air, aiming a long spike from her wrist at the man's head. She thought she might have gotten him for a moment, but it only took one more second for another smaller beam to collide with her abdomen, hurling her through the air.

"Urchin!" shouted Wraith, trying to give her another emotional boost.

She smacked against the hard concrete wall and cursed, blood gushing from a place on her scalp. She broke off three barbs and hurled them through the air, but the enhanced human reduced them to ashes before they even got close. She almost wanted to quit, but Wraith increased her resolve and activated her fight response.

She screeched again as she stood up and pounced. With quick reflexes, she dodged the first two strikes and then made contact with a place on the man's shoulder.

She felt elation as she saw the blood staining his armor, but Sinister did not seem to notice. He waved his hand and she was sent flying, burns gathering on her side from the pure force.

Barbara knew she was outmatched, but again and again, she tried to attack him.

"You're beaten," the man said after the fourth try. "Contrary to popular belief, I don't want to kill you. Your DNA would only cause unsightly barbs and I don't need you for my ultimate mission."

Ultimate mission? That didn't sound good.

No one saw the next thing coming. The ground underneath Sinister's body cackled with blue light before suddenly transforming into a pit of quicksand. The man was startled enough to be taken by surprise, and his whole body was covered up to his neck.

"No!"

Adam, Adrianna, and Jessie walked around the corner and without warning, Adrianna literally flew over him and a cloud of orange dust was emitted from her butterfly-like wings. The dust was a powerful sedative, enough to even put an elephant to sleep.

The Morlocks were reunited. And the five of them stood in front of the man, who was muttering absolute gibberish as the sedative quickly took effect.

Barbara stood up uneasily, her various bruises and burns evident. "Can we kill him?"

Adam, who was almost literally going to pass out from over-excitation of his powers, shook his head. "That would make us no better than him."

Barbara thought of his "ultimate mission" and grimaced. "I have a feeling you might regret it."

"What are we going to do with him?" asked Jessie.

Insect Queen looked to her lover, Prometheus. "The proper authorities."

But before anything could happen, there was another loud crackling that reverberated throughout the whole hallway.

"Oh, no! The X-Men!"

* * *

><p>Camille slicked out from the wall, reforming from a puddle of melted earth. She did not like the way Arclight's powers worked, but as she rejoined the battle, she was surprised to see Arclight unconscious.<p>

And even more surprised to see what Rivera's clones were doing.

A firework-like cackle spread throughout the hallway as energy harpoon met another energy harpoon, and every time the clones were close enough to hit him, they did. There was a screech from Hairbag as he was captured by Grant's malleable mutation, unable to struggle against the bindings.

So she practically did nothing?

Great.

"Damn it!" Harpoon said as he took a shoulder to the stomach and then a chop to the chest, debilitating enough to knock out his breath. "Retreat!"

Arclight was unconscious. Hairbag was captured. Who was retreating?

Harpoon turned to run but instead found himself taking a punch to the face from Jessie, knocking him out cold.

"Well, glad that's over," she said with a smile.

* * *

><p>The police had arrived at the scene in no time. The Marauders had been taken into custody, and the Morlocks and X-Men had personally watched them get captured by specialized police units, from the shadows so that the Morlocks would be okay.<p>

But Sinister, somehow, got away. When the cops arrived, he had broken free from the quicksand.

"I still don't understand how," Camille wondered. "You had him, no?"

Adam nodded as they headed back into the sewers to be welcomed home by the Morlocks that were left. The X-Men wanted to follow to be sure it was safe.

"Yeah, we did. He was trapped in a special substance that could have held a normal person there for days, like quicksand. But he got out somehow."

"Figures," Rivera said with a squeeze of Grant's hand. Rivera had re-summoned her clones without any trouble, despite the confusion of the day. Either way, she still needed to know what was going on.

Caliban met them on the way and everyone cheered as they returned home with Adam, their leader. Even if they hadn't managed to capture Sinister, the Marauders were still gone. So that was good enough for them.

The X-Men watched awkwardly from the sidelines as the Morlocks celebrated, and they all felt too much like outsiders. But after a moment, Caliban walked over to Rivera and the other two.

"I understand that you sought this person?" questioned Caliban, pointing to the name on the paper she had given him earlier.

Rivera nodded. "Yeah, she's the only person who I think can help me."

The Morlock nodded. "Her location is sporadic, almost like she is always on the move. But she can be found most often here." He pointed to the address, a place just outside of Boston.

"Thank you so much!" exclaimed Rivera, shaking his hand and taking the address.

"No, thank _you_, young X-Men."

* * *

><p><strong>How was that? I know it might have seemed confusing with the Morlocks and all, but I thought it was decent. Plus, it's still addressing some of the things from previous Season Three chapters, and leading up to a nice plotline. There's some key elements here that I hoped you picked up on. <strong>

**Rivera's clones can only mirror attacks used against her, and it has to be in that almost exact moment. She can't use other people's powers. It's an upgrade of her adoptive muscle mimicry. **


End file.
